*      OCT  4  1911      *j 

^^/-     ' — "^  c*  *  r* — >       \  %  / 


Division  ^5  41  I 


Seutioa 


v,7 


'arse  9$t00aQt0  ot  tit  IBihlt 

EDITED   BY 

Frank    K.    Sanders,    Ph.D.,    President  of  Washburn   College, 

Topeka,    Kansas,    and    Professor    Charles     F.    Kent, 

Ph.D.,   of   Yale  University 

A  new  series,  in  which  emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  concise,  for- 
cible, and  realistic  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  The  books  of  the 
Bible  are  grouped  according  to  a  natural  classification,  their  contents 
arranged  in  the  order  of  appearance,  and  a  scholarly  yet  popular 
paraphrase  of  their  distinctive  thought  given  in  plain  and  expressive 
English.  The  purpose  of  this  series  is  to  enable  any  reader  of  the 
Bible  to  understand  its  meaning  as  a  reverent  scholar  of  to-day  does, 
and  in  particular  to  receive  the  exact  impression  which  the  words  as 
originally  heard  or  read  must  have  made  upon  those  for  whom  they 
were  delivered. 

This  series  is  not  a  substitute  for  the  Bible,  but  an  aid  to  the 
reverent,  appreciative,  and  enthusiastic  reading  of  the  Scriptures ;  in 
fact,  it  will  serve  the  purpose  of  an 

ORIGINAL  AND  POPULAR  COMMENTARY 

Technicalities  and  unsettled  questions  will  be,  as  far  as  possible, 
ignored.  Ea  h  volume  will  be  prepared  by  a  leading  specialist,  and 
will  contain  such  brief  introductions  as  serve  to  put  the  reader  into 
intelligent  relation  to  the  general  theme  treated.  The  editorial  re- 
arrangement of  the  order  of  the  Biblical  books  or  sections  will  repre- 
sent the  definite  results  of  sober  scholarship. 


I.  The  Messages  of  the  Earlier  Prophets. 

II.  The  Messages  of  the  Later  Prophets. 

III.  The   Messages  of  the  Law  Givers. 

IV.  The  Messages  of  the  Prophetical  and  Priestly  His- 

torians. 

V.  The  Messages  of  the  Psalmists. 

VI.  The   Messages  of  the  Sages. 

VII.  The  Messages  of  the  Poets. 

VIII.  The  Messages  of  the  Apocalyptic  Writers. 

IX.  The  Messages  of  Jesus  according  to  the  Synoptists. 

X.  The  Messages  of  Jesus  according  to  John. 

XI.  The  Messages  of  Paul. 

XII.  The  Messages  of  the   Apostles. 


Zl)c  flDeegagea  of  tbe  Bible 

edited  by 
President  Frank  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D. 

of  Washburn  College 

AND 

Professor  Charles  F.  Kent,  Ph.D. 

of  Yale  University 
VOLUME  VII 

THE    MESSAGES    OF    THE    POETS 


00 

tTbe  flDcegages  of  tbe  Bible 

THE 
MESSAGES  OF  THE  POETS 


THE    BOOKS    OF    JOB    AND     CANTICLEs/v 
AND    SOME    MINOR    POEMS    IN   THE    OLIf* 
TESTAMENT,  WITH   INTRODUCTIONS,  MET 
RICAL  TRANSLATIONS,  AND  PARAPHRASES 


BY 

NATHANIEL   SCHMIDT,   M.A. 

Professor  of  Semitic  Languages  and  Literatures  in  Cornell  University 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

1911 


Copyright,  191 1, 

by 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  January,  191 1 


TO  MY  WIFE 


PREFACE 

The  Book  of  Job  is  one  of  the  great  masterpieces  in  the 
world's  literature.  No  other  work  has  come  down  to  us 
from  Hebrew  antiquity  that  makes  so  strong  an  appeal  to 
modern  man  by  the  problems  fearlessly  presented  in  it 
and  its  manner  of  approach  to  their  solution.  It  is  im- 
possible to  read  the  poem,  even  in  a  prose  translation, 
without  being  impressed  with  its  beauty  of  style,  its  gran- 
deur of  thought,  and  its  deep  moral  earnestness.  The 
attempt  has  here  been  made  to  recover  its  original  form, 
to  trace  its  gradual  growth,  to  reproduce  its  peculiar 
poetic  structure,  and  to  estimate  its  ethical  and  religious 
significance.  The  interpreter  is  fully  aware  of  the  diffi- 
culties of  his  task.  How  far  he  has  succeeded  in  rendering 
the  poet's  thought,  without  admixture  of  his  own,  is  for 
others  to  judge.  The  dialogues  appear  to  him  to  have  a 
certain  un-Hebraic  stamp  due  to  foreign  influence,  but  he 
recognizes  also  in  them  that  tendency  at  all  hazards  to  go 
to  the  roots  of  things  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the 
Hebrew  mind  when  it  breaks  away  from  tradition. 

Canticles  holds  a  unique  place  among  the  books  of  the 
Bible.  It  is  manifestly  not  of  a  religious  nature,  in  the 
vii 


Prejace 

ordinary  sense  of  the  word;  and  it  does  not,  like  Esther, 
deal  with  Israel,  the  people  of  Yahwe.  Yet  its  position 
in  the  Canon  of  Scripture  has  naturally  led  to  various  at- 
tempts to  find  in  it  a  rehgious  meaning,  or  at  least  what  may 
be  deemed  a  worthy  moral  purpose.  Hence  the  songs  that' 
once  were  sung  by  irreverent  youth  in  wine -shops  to  in- 
flame their  passions  have  also  been  chanted  by  mystics  in  sa- 
cred places  to  celebrate  the  soul's  union  with  God.  The  text 
that,  with  its  suggestive  headings  proclaiming  the  hidden 
sense,  for  ages  nourished  the  spiritual  life  by  setting  forth 
pictures  of  a  more  than  human  love  has  in  the  last  century, 
been  parcelled  out  among  a  new  set  of  dramatis  personcE, 
taking  the  place  of  the  Christ,  the  Church,  the  Virgin,  and 
the  believing  soul,  and  telling  the  story  of  a  maiden's 
faithfulness  to  her  shepherd  lover  in  spite  of  the  seduc- 
tions of  Solomon's  harem.  From  the  Procrustean  bed  of 
dramatic  construction,  this  long-suffering  product  of  the 
Hebrew  muse  has  more  recently  been  carried  to  the  Syrian 
threshing-table,  where  sit  the  humble  peasant  and  his 
bride,  playing  king  and  queen  during  the  days  of  their 
marriage  feast,  to  inspire  a  proper  appreciation  of  the  joys 
of  holy  matrimony.  Exeunt  Solomon  in  all  his  glory, 
Sulamith  in  her  maidenly  innocence,  and  the  faithful 
shepherd;  enter  rustics  shamming  royalty,  sword-dancers, 
and  village  poets  with  their  wasfs  so  redolent  with  eroti- 
cism that  every  image  hides  an  allusion  to  the  pleasures  of 
wedded  love.  To  the  present  writer  Canticles  is  simply 
viii 


Preface 

an  anthology  of  love  lyrics,  like  that  of  Meleager,  spring- 
ing from  the  poet's  experience,  and  describing,  with  much 
charm  and  delicacy,  the  frankly  sensuous  and  somewhat 
unconventional,  yet  none  the  less  genuine,  love  of  man  and 
woman.  It  is  in  need  of  no  apology.  There  is  no  good 
reason  for  transposing  its  lines  so  as  to  construct  songs 
different  from  those  the  text  presents.  The  key  to  its 
inner  meaning  so  eagerly  offered  by  the  new  school  of 
allegorists  may,  v/ithout  serious  loss,  be  thrown  away,  and 
the  wonderful  descriptions  of  Syrian  scenery  enjoyed  as 
bona  fide  expressions  of  a  sense  of  nature's  beauty. 

Thirty  poems  scattered  through  the  books  of  the  Bible 
have  been  brought  together  and  placed  before  the  reader 
in  an  English  translation  that  seeks  to.  reproduce  the 
metre  and  strophic  structure  of  the  original.  Some  of 
them  possess  great  literary  value;  many  are  important 
because  of  the  light  they  throw  on  the  history  of  Israel; 
all  are  interesting  from  the  view -point  of  ethics  and  re- 
ligion. Every  new  effort  to  interpret  them  has  deepened 
the  conviction  of  the  author  of  this  book  that  most  of  them 
belong  to  an  earlier  period  than  is  generally  admitted  by 
the  leading  critics  of  to-day.  There  are  some  Songs  of 
the  Conquest  that  seem  to  antedate  the  Song  of  Deborah, 
and  help  to  illumine  the  dark  period  of  the  Hebrew  in- 
vasion. The  age  of  David  and  Solomon  appears  to  have 
been,  richer  in  literary  productions  of  abiding  worth  than 
recent  scholars  have  been  disposed  to  acknowledge.  On 
ix 


Prejace 

the  other  hand,  the  older  songs  seem  to  have  preserved 
more  of  the  polytheism  and  crude  religious  practices  left 
behind  by  Israel's  subsequent  growth  than  has  been  sus- 
pected. This,  of  course,  does  not  detract  from,  but  rather 
enhances,  the  great  spiritual  achievement  by  which  a 
purer  faith  developed.  Strangely  enough,  the  poetic  char- 
acter of  the  exquisite  Song  of  Youth  and  Age  in  Ecclesi- 
astes  has  not  hitherto  been  recognized. 

In  the  introduction  an  effort  has  been  made  to  gauge 
the  value  of  Hebrew  poetry  by  comparison  with  that  of 
other  nations.  Such  a  use  of  the  comparative  method  is 
as  yet  new,  and  only  long  practice  can  give  surety  of  judg- 
ment, A  really  fair  estimate  will  be  possible  only  after  the 
last  vestiges  shall  have  disappeared  of  the  isolation  in 
which  it  has  been  customary  to  contemplate  the  poetic 
lore  of  ancient  Israel.  Questions  concerning  rhythm  and 
metre  have  been  discussed  more  fully  than  in  any  other 
volume  of  this  series.  This  seemed  desirable  in  order  to 
justify  the  form  given  to  the  important  poems  here  pre- 
sented in  English.  Though  a  complete  presentation  of 
the  author's  views  naturally  could  not  be  given,  but  must 
be  reserved  for  another  place,  he  wished  to  indicate  at 
least  the  salient  points,  and  to  emphasize  the  necessity  of 
co-ordinating  the  results  obtained  by  students  of  psy- 
chology with  those  gained  by  metricists.  The  limitations 
of  space  imposed  by  the  desire  to  present  the  poems  in 
a  metrical  translation  rather  than  in  a  paraphrase,  as  has 
X 


Preface 

been  done  so  successfully  in  other  volumes  of  this  series, 
rendered  it  necessary  to  abbreviate  the  commentary.  If 
any  reader  should  miss,  in  notes,  summaries,  and  exposi- 
tions, a  reference  to  the  deeper  significance  of  a  poem,  he 
is  courteously  requested  to  turn  to  those  sections  of  the 
introduction  to  the  book,  or  of  the  special  introductions, 
that  deal  with  the  moral  and  religious  importance  of  the 
poems,  their  messages  to  the  contemporaries,  and  their 
value  to  posterity. 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  grateful  acknowledg- 
ment to  President  Frank  K.  Sanders,  Ph.D.,  of  Washburn 
College,  for  the  felicitous  marginal  notes  that  indicate  the 
development  of  thought;  to  his  colleague.  Professor  E.  B. 
Titchener,  Ph.  D.,  LL.D.,  for  many  helpful  suggestions 
on  the  subject  of  rhythm;  and  to  Miss  Josephine  Britton, 
Ph.D.,  for  her  valuable  assistance  in  the  preparation  of 
the  bibliography  and  in  other  ways. 

May  this  book,  which  it  has  been  a  pleasure  to  write, 
increase  the  circle  of  those  who  find  joy  and  inspiration  in 
Israel's  treasury  of  song! 


The  Author. 


Ithaca,  August  20,  1910. 


XI 


CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

PAGE 

I.  The  Poetry  of  the  Ancient  Hebrews    .  3 

II.  General  Character  of  this  Poetry    .     .  11 

III.  Form  of  Hebrew  Poetry 23 

1.  The  Rhythm 23 

2.  The  Metre 28 

3.  Parallelism 30 

4.  The  Strophic  Structure 31 

5.  Assonance,  Alliteration,  and  Rhyme  .     ,  32 

IV.  Text  and  Translation 33 

1.  The  Hebrew  Text 33 

2.  The  Ancient  Versions 35 

3.  The  Metrical  Translation 37 

V.  The  Poets  of  Israel 38 

VI.  The  Ethical  Value  of  the  Poems  .     .     .  47 

VII.  Their  Religious  Significance      .         .    .  56 
THE   BOOK   OF  JOB 

I,  Introduction  to  the  Book  of  Job  ...  75 

1.  Its  Position  in  the  Wisdom-Literature    .  75 

2.  Its  Poetic  Form 77 

xiii 


Contents 

PAGE 

3.  The  Prose  Story 80 

4.  The  Dialogues 83 

5.  The  Addresses  of  Elihu 89 

6.  The  Speech  of  Yahwe 90 

7.  Minor  Additions 94 

8.  Authorship 94 

9.  The  Date 97 

10.  Place  of  Composition 100 

11.  Messages  to  the  Contemporaries    ,     .     .  loi 

12.  Messages  to  Posterity 102 


II.  Prologue  and  Epilogue  (i,  2,  42  :  7-17) .    .  107 

1.  The  Paraphrase 107 

2.  The  Notes no 

III.  Job's  Lament  (3) 112 

1.  The  Translation 112 

2.  The  Notes 115 


IV.  First  Cycle  of  Dialogues  (4-14)  ....     116 

1.  The  Translation 116 

(i)  Eliphaz's  Discourse  (chaps.  4,  5) 

(2)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  6,  7) 

(3)  Bildad's  Discourse  (chap.  8) 

(4)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  9,  10) 

(5)  Zophar's  Discourse  (chap.  11) 

(6)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  12-14) 

2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 138 

3.  The  Value  of  This  Cycle  of  Discussion  .     142 

xiv 


Contents 

PAGE 

V.  Second  Cycle  of  Dialogues  (15-21).    .    .     143 

1.  The  Translation 143 

(i)  Eliphaz's  Discourse  (chap.  15) 

(2)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  16-17) 

(3)  Bildad's  Discourse  (chap.  18) 

(4)  Job's  Reply  (chap.  19) 

(5)  Zophar's  Discourse  (chap.  20) 

(6)  Job's  Reply  (chap.  21) 

2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 158 

3.  The  Value  of  the  Discussion      .     .     .     .     162 

VI.  Third  Cycle  of  Dialogues  (22-31)  .     .    .     163 

1.  The  Translation 163 

(i)  Eliphaz's  Discourse  (chap.  22) 

(2)  Job's  Reply  (chap.  23) 

(3)  Vagabonds  and  Culprits(chap.  24) 

(4)  Bildad's  Discourse  (chaps.  25  :  2-6;  26  :  5-14 
(s)  Job's  Reply  (chap.  27  :  1-5) 

(6)  Zophar's  Discourse  (chap.  27  :  7-23) 

(7)  The  Home  of  Wisdom  (chap.  28) 

(8)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  29-31) 

2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 183 

3.  The  Value  of  the  Discussion     ....     186 

4.  The  Result  of  the  Three  Cycles  of  Dia- 

logue       186 

VII.  Elihu's  Addresses  (32-37) 187 

I.  The  Paraphrase 187 

(i)  Suffering  Sometimes  a  Means  of  Self- 
Knowledge  (chaps.  32  :  6-33  :  33) 

(2)  The  Justness  of  God  (chap.  34) 

(3)  The  Apparent  Unprofitableness  of  Piety 
(chap.  35) 

(4)  The  Necessity  of  Submission  to  the  Merciful, 
Just,  and  Inscrutable  Will  of  God  (chaps. 
36,  37) 

XV 


Contents 

PAGE 

VIII.  The  Colloquy  of  Yahwe  with  Job  (38-41)  19+ 

1.  The  Translation 194 

(i)  The  Speech  of  Yahwe  (chaps.  38-40  :  2,  8-14) 

(2)  Behemoth  and  Leviathan 

(3)  Job's  Reply  (chaps.  40 :  3,  4;  42  :  2-6 

2.  The  Summary 207 

3.  The  Value  of  this  Contribution  to  the 
Solution 209 

IX.  The  Solution  of  Job's  Problem      .    .    .  210 

CANTICLES 

I.  Introduction  to  Canticles 215 

1.  The  Title 215 

2.  Canonicity 216 

3.  Allegorical  Interpretation 217 

4.  Recognition  of  a  Literal  Sense       .     .     .  219 

5.  Attempts  at  Dramatic  Construction    .     .  221 

6.  The  Epithalamic  Theory 223 

7.  An  Anthology  of  Love  Lyrics    .     .     .     .  228 

8.  Unity  and  Integrity 230 

9.  The  Authorship 232 

10.  The  Date 233 

11.  The  Place  of  Composition 235 

12.  The  Moral  and  Religious  Message     .     .  235 
II.  The  First  Canticle  (i  :  1-6) 239 

1.  The  Translation 239 

2.  The  Exposition 240 

III.  The  Second  Canticle  (i  :  7, 8)      .     .     .     .  241 

1.  The  Translation 241 

2.  The  Exposition 242 

xvi 


Contents 

PAGE 

IV.  The  Third  Canticle  (i  :  9-2  :  3)   .     .     .    .  242 

1.  The  Translation 242 

2.  The  Notes 244 

3.  The  Exposition 244 

V.  The  Fourth  Canticle  (2  :  8-13)    .     .    .    .  246 

1.  The  Translation 246 

2.  The  Notes 247 

3.  The  Exposition 247 

VI.  The  Fifth  Canticle  (2  :  14-17)     ....  248 

1.  The  Translation 248 

2.  The  Notes •    .     .  249 

3.  The  Exposition 249 

VII.  The  Sixth  Canticle  (3  :  1-4) 250 

1.  The  Translation 250 

2.  The  Notes       . 251 

3.  The  Exposition 251 

VIII.  The  Seventh  Canticle  (3  :  6-1 1)  .    .     .    .  252 

1.  The  Translation 252 

2.  The  Exposition 253 

IX.  The  Eighth  Canticle  (4:  1-7)      ....  254 

1.  The  Translation 254 

2.  The  Exposition 255 

X.  The  Ninth  Canticle  (4  :  8-5  13).     .    .    .  256 

1.  The  Translation 256 

2.  The  Exposition ,     ,     .  257 

xvii 


Contents 

PAGE 

XI.  The  Tenth  Canticle  (5  ;  2-16)      ....  258 

1.  The  Translation      ........  258 

2.  The  Exposition 260 

XII.  The  Eleventh  Canticle  (6  :  1-3)      .     .     .  262 

1.  The  Translation 262 

2.  The  Exposition 262 

XIII.  The  Twelfth  Canticle  (6  :  8-10)      ...  263 

1.  The  Translation 263 

2.  The  Notes 264 

3.  The  Exposition 264 

XIV.  The  Thirteenth  Canticle  (6  :  11-7  :  9)     .  265 

1.  The  Translation 265 

2.  The  Notes 267 

3.  The  Exposition 268 

XV.  The  Fourteenth  Canticle  (7  :  10-13)    •     •  269 

1.  The  Translation 269 

2.  The  Exposition 270 

XVI.  The  Fifteenth  Canticle  (8  :  1-2)     .     .    .  271 

1.  The  Translation 271 

2.  The  Exposition 271 

XVII.  The  Sixteenth  Canticle  (8  :  5-7)     .    .    .  272 

1.  The  Translation 272 

2.  The  Exposition 273 

xviii 


Contents 

PAGE 

XVIII.  The  Seventeenth  Canticle  (8  :  8-10)  .     .  274 

1.  The  Translation 274 

2.  The  Notes 275 

3.  The  Exposition 275 

XIX.  The  Eighteenth  Canticle  (8  :  11,  12)    .     .  276 

1.  The  Translation 276 

2.  The  Exposition 276 

XX.  The  Nineteenth  Canticle  (8  :  13, 14)  .    .  277 

1.  The  Translation 277 

2.  The  Exposition 277 

MINOR  POEMS 

I.  Introduction  to  the  Minor  Poems  281 

1.  The  Poems  Included 281 

2.  The  Origin  of  the  Poems 282 

3.  Their  Insertion  in  the  Present  Text   .     .  283 

4.  The  Authorship  of  the  Poems    ....  284 

5.  Their  Date 285 

6.  Their  Hi  toric  Value 286 

7.  Their  Ethical  and  Religious  Significance  288 

II.  The  Song  of  Lamech  (Gen.  4  :  23,  24)       .  290 

1.  The  Translation 290 

2.  The  Exposition 291 

III.  The  Curse  and  Blessings  of  Noah  (Gen. 

9  :  25,  26) 293 

1.  The  Translation 293 

2.  The  Notes 293 

3.  The  Exposition 293 

xix 


Contents 

PAGE 

IV.  The  Song  of  the  Tower  (Gen.  ii  :  3,  4,  6,  7)  295 

1.  The  Translation 295 

2.  The  Exposition 296 

V.  The  Song  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  (Gen. 

18  :  20  f.;  19  :  24  f.) 299 

1.  The  Translation 299 

2.  The  Exposition 299 

VI.  The  Oracle  of  Jacob  and  Esau  (Gen. 

25  :  23) 301 

1.  The  Translation 301 

2.  The  Exposition 301 

VII.  Isaac's  Blessing  of  Jacob  (Gen.  27  :  27-29)  302 

1.  The  Translation 302 

2.  The  Exposition 302 

VIII.  Isaac's  Blessing  of  Esau  (Gen.  27  :  39,  40)  303 

1.  The  Translation      ...          ....  303 

2.  The  Exposition 304 

IX.  The  Blessing  of  Jacob  (Gen.  49  :  3-27)     .  304 

1.  The  Translation 304 

2.  The  Notes 308 

3.  The  Exposition 309 

4.  Historical  and   Religious  Value  of  the 

Poem 313 

X.  The  Song  of  Moses  (Ex.   15  : 1-29)     .    .  314 

1.  The  Translation 314 

2.  The  Exposition 316 

XX 


Contents 

PAGE 

XL  The  Song  of  Miriam  (Ex.  15  :  21)    .     .     .  317 

1.  The  Translation 317 

2.  The  Exposition 317 

XII.  The  Oracle  of  the  Altar  Fire  (Lev.  10  13)  318 

1.  The  Translation 318 

2.  The  Exposition 318 

XIII.  The  Priestly  Benediction  (Num.  6  :  24-26)  319 

1.  The  Translation 319 

2.  The  Exposition 320 

XIV.  The  Song  of  the  Ark  (Num.  10  :  35,  36)  .  321 

1.  The  Translation 321 

2.  The  Notes 321 

3.  The  Exposition 321 

XV.  The    Song   of    the   Crossing    of   Arnon 

(Num.  21  :  14,  15) 323 

1.  The  Translation 223 

2.  The  Notes 323 

3.  The  Exposition 323 

XVI.  The  Song  of  the  Capture  of  Be'er  (Num. 

21  :  i7>  18) 324 

1.  The  Translation 324 

2.  The  Exposition 324 

XVII.  The   Song   of  Sihon's  Conquests    (Num. 

21  :  27-30) 325 

1.  The  Translation      , 325 

2.  The  Notes      .     .     , 326 

3.  The  Exposition 326 

xxi 


Contents 

PAGE 

XVIII.  The  Prophecies  of  Balaam  (Num.  23-24)     327 

1.  The  Translation 327 

(i)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  Greatness  (23  : 
7-10) 

(2)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  Conquering  Power 
(23  :  18-24) 

(3)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  Prosperity  (24  : 
3-9) 

(4)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  King  (24  :  15-19) 
(s)  The  Prophecy  on  Amalek  (Num.  24  :  20) 

(6)  The  Prophecy  on  the  Kenite   (Num.  24  : 
21-22) 

(7)  The  Prophecy  on  the  Amorite  (Num.  24  ; 
23-24) 

2.  The  Notes ZZr 

3.  The  Exposition 332 

XIX.  The  Song  of  Moses:   Yahwe's  Just  Deal- 
ings WITH  Israel  (Deut.  32  :  1-43) ....    336 

1.  The  Translation Z2,^ 

2.  The  Notes 34i 

3.  The  Exposition 341 

4.  The  Value  of  the  Poem 343 

XX.  The  Blessing  of  Moses:   Oracles  on  the 

Tribes  (Deut.  33  : 1-29) 344 

1.  The  Translation 344 

2.  The  Notes 34^ 

3.  The  Exposition 349 

XXI.  The  Curse  of  Jericho  (Josh.  6  :  26)     .    .    351 

1.  The  Translation 35 1 

2.  The  Exposition 35  ^ 

xxii 


Contents 

PAGE 

XXTI.  The  Command  to  the  Sun  and  the  Moon 

(Josh.  lo  :  12b,  13) 352 

1.  The  Translation 352 

2.  The  Exposition 352 

XX] II.  The  Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  5  :  2-31)    .  354 

1.  The  Translation 354 

2.  The  Notes 35^ 

3.  The  Exposition 360 

XXIV.  The  Song  of  Hanna:    Yahwe,  the  De- 
liverer (i  Sam.  2  :  i-io)  ..-..;..  362 

1.  The  Translation 362 

2.  The  Exposition 263 

XXV.  David's  Lament  over  Saul  and  Jonathan 

(2  Sam.  I  :  18-27) 3^4 

1.  The  Translation 364 

2.  The  Notes       .     .  , 366 

3.  The  Exposition 366 

XX\T.  David's    Lament    over    Abner    (2    Sam. 

3  :  33-34) 367 

1.  The  Translation 367 

2.  The  Notes Z^l 

3.  The  Exposition 367 

XXVII.  The  Last  Words  of  David:  God  Blesses 

the  Righteous  Ruler  (2  Sam.  23  :  1-7)     .  369 

1.  The  Translation 3^9 

2.  The  Notes 37° 

3.  The  Exposition 370 

xxiii 


Contents 

PAGE 

XXVIII.  Solomon's   Temple    Dedication    (i    Kings 

S  :  12,  13) 371 

1.  The  Translation 371 

2.  The  Notes 371 

3.  The  Exposition 372 

XXIX.  The  Taunt-Song  on  Sennacherib  (2  Kings 

19:21-28) 376 

1.  The  Translation 376 

2.  The  Notes 377 

3.  The  Exposition 377 

XXX.  The  Oracle  against  Sennacherib  (2  Kings 

19  :  32-34) 379 

1.  The  Translation 379 

2.  The  Exposition 379 

XXXI.  The  Song    of   Youth    and   Age    (Eccles. 

II  :  7-12  :  7) 380 

1.  The  Translation 38° 

2.  The  Notes 382 

3.  The  Exposition ...  382 

XXXII.  Bibliography 385 


XXIV 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 


THE  POETRY  OF  THE  ANCIENT  HEBREWS 

It  is  certain  that  many  collections  of  poems  existed  in 
Israel  and  Judah  that  have  not  been  preserved  to  us  in  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures.  Some  of  these  appear  to  have  been 
quite  extensive.  The  Book  of  Jashar  mentioned  in  Josh, 
lo  :  13  and  2  Sam.  i  :  18  undoubtedly  contained  many 
poems  besides  the  two  quoted  in  these  passages.  The 
Greek  version  gives  in  i  Kings  8  :  53  the  words  assigned 
to  Solomon  in  verses  12  f.  in  a  fuller  form,  and  states  that 
they  were  taken  from  the  Book  of  Songs.  It  has  been  con- 
jectured that  the  translator  was  misled  by  a  transposition 
of  letters  in  his  text,  the  Book  of  Jashar  being  originally 
meant.  But  there  is  no  evidence  of  this,  and  the  nature  of 
the  poetic  fragment  is  such  that  it  is  more  natural  to  sup- 
pose it  to  have  come  from  a  book  containing  songs  con- 
nected with  the  temple  service.  The  Book  of  Wars  is 
quoted  as  the  source  of  the  song  introduced  in  Num.  21  : 
14  f.  It  no  doubt  contained  many  others  like  it.  Whether 
Num.  21  :  17b,  18  came  from  this  collection,  as  is  generally 
assumed,  cannot  be  determined.     The  manner  in  which 


Introduction  The  Messages 

the  moshelim,  or  reciters  of  taunt-songs,  are  cited  in  con- 
nection with  the  Song  on  the  Fall  of  Heshbon  renders  it  at 
least  probable  that  another  collection  was  used  in  Num.  21  : 
27-30,  since  otherwise  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  the 
Book  of  Wars  should  not  again  have  been  mentioned, 

David's  lament  over  Saul  and  Jonathan  is  so  exquisite  a 
piece  of  poetry  that  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  this 
"sweet  singer  in  Israel"  composed  many  another  song  of 
distinguished  merit.  There  does  not  seem,  however,  to 
have  been  any  collection  of  Davidic  songs,  as  the  elegy  is 
derived  from  the  Book  of  Jashar.  The  text  of  Amos  6  :  5 
is  too  uncertain  to  allow  a  conclusion  as  to  the  nature  of 
the  songs,  if  there  were  any,  that  were  ascribed  to  David 
in  the  eighth  century.  But  in  i  Kings  4  :  32  (5  :  12  iu 
Heb.)  it  is  said  of  Solomon  that  "his  songs  were  a  thousand 
and  five,"  and  this  seems  to  indicate  that  such  a  collection 
once  existed,  though  nothing  of  it  has  survived.  An  elegy 
on  the  death  of  Josiah  is  ascribed  to  Jeremiah  in  2  Chron. 
35  :  25.  Whether  it  once  had  a  place  in  the  Book  of 
Lamentations,  or  was  found  by  the  chronicler  in  some 
other  collection,  is  a  question  that  cannot  now  be  decided. 
But  as  the  threnodies  in  our  canonical  book  all  refer  to  the 
nation,  and  not  to  any  individual,  it  is  perhaps  most  prob- 
able that  the  words  of  the  Greek  version  which  seem  to 
represent  the  original,  "Behold  it  is  written  in  the  Lam- 
entations," point  to  a  different  book  bearing  this  general 
title. 

4 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

Of  the  oracles  in  poetic  form  uttered  by  the  prophets 
many  have  been  lost.  Jer.  36  :  23  tells  the  story  of  how  a 
book-roll  written  by  Baruch  at  the  dictation  of  the  prophet 
and  containing  all  the  words  Yahwe  had  spoken  to  him  was 
destroyed  by  King  Jehoiakim.  This  roll  is  indeed  said  to 
have  been  rewritten  by  Baruch,  the  prophet  dictating  again, 
when  many  more  words  like  unto  the  first  were  added 
(v.  32),  But  this  roll  does  not  seem  to  have  survived 
any  more  than  the  original  one.  The  only  words  quoted 
from  it  in  verse  29  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  sections 
of  our  present  book  that  have  sometimes  been  supposed 
by  scholars  to  have  come  from  Baruch's  roll.  Whatever 
the  nature  of  the  Book  of  Songs  (i  Kings  8  :  53  in  the 
Greek)  may  have  been,  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  hymns  were  used  in  the  worship  at  the  various  sanctu- 
aries before  the  exile.  It  is  altogether  improbable  that  the 
songs  referred  to  in  Amos  5  :  23;  8:3  were  of  a  secular 
character.  They,  no  doubt,  were  as  religious  as  the  pray- 
ers offered,  though  neither  of  them  may  have  had  the  spir- 
itual quality  of  the  best  of  the  later  Psalms. 

Canticles  is. not  likely  to  have  been  the  only  diwan  of 
love  poetry.  Isaiah  attracted  attention  by  chanting  the 
first  lines  of  a  popular  song  concerning  the  lover  and  his 
vineyard  (5:1);  Jeremiah  alludes  to  the  songs  of  bride 
and  bridegroom  (16:9);  maidens  sang  their  marriage 
songs  (Ps.  78  :  63),  and  loose  women  their  ribald  ditties 
(Isa.  23  :  16).     In  the  vineyard  and  at  the  festive  board, 

5 


Introduction  The  Messages 

drinking  songs  were  sung  (Isa,  i6  :  lo;  24  : 9;  Amos  5  :  23; 
Gen.  31  :  27;  Ps.  69  :  12).  There  were  skilled  men  sing- 
ers and  women  singers.  Barzillai  of  Mahanaim  refers  to 
them  in  the  days  of  David  (2  Sam.  19  :  35);  Ecclesiastes 
says  that  Solomon  employed  them  (2  :  8) ;  and  Zedekiah 
had  female  singers  (Jer.  38  :  22).  A  collection  of  three 
thousand  wise  sayings  in  poetic  form  was  ascribed  to 
Solomon  (i  Kings  4  :  32;  5  :  12  in  Heb.).  It  is  now  lost. 
There  probably  were  many  little  rolls  of  gnomic  poetry. 

Much  Hebrew  poetry  would  have  utterly  perished  if  it 
had  not  been  to  some  extent  preserved  in  translations  of 
books  rejected  by  the  synagogue,  but  more  or  less  widely 
accepted  by  the  church.  About  two-thirds  of  the  original 
text  of  Ecclesiasticus  have  indeed  been  recovered,  and  have 
made  a  very  valuable  addition  to  the  poetic  wisdom  lit- 
erature extant  in  Hebrew.  The  psalm  that  follows  chap. 
51  :  12  is  no  doubt  a  late  interpolation  in  the  Hebrew  text, 
but  none  the  less  interesting.  Yet  this  partial  recovery  of 
a  work  highly  esteemed  by  the  Jews  of  the  Talmudic 
period  and  often  quoted  as  ''Scripture"  only  tends  to 
draw  attention  to  our  dependence  upon  the  Christian  ver- 
sions in  the  case  of  a  very  large  number  of  important  books 
originally  written  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic.  In  i  Maccabees 
two  threnodies  are  introduced  in  the  account  of  the  deeds 
of  Antiochus  IV  (i  :  25-28,  36-40),  a  lament  in  the 
midst  of  the  address  of  Mattathias  (2  :  8-12),  an  ode  to 
Judas  Maccabaeus  (3  :  3-9),  a  lament  over  Jerusalem 
6 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

(3  :  45),  and  an  ode  in  praise  of  Simon  (14  :  6-15).  In 
Judith  16  :  2-18  there  is  a  stirring  song  in  praise  of  the 
heroine.  Among  the  additions  to  Daniel  in  the  Greek 
version,  the  Prayer  of  Azariah  (3  :  26-45)  ^^d  the  Praise 
of  the,  Three  Holy  Children  (3  :  52-90)  are  in  poetic  form; 
and  so  is  the  Prayer  of  Manasse  (added  to  2  Chron.  2>z). 
In  Baruch  there  is  a  didactic  poem  (3  :  9-4  :  4),  two 
lamentations  (4  :  5-8,  9-16),  and  a  long  hymn  of  com- 
fort (4  :  17-5  : 9).  The  eighteen  hymns  of  the  Psalter  of 
Solomon  are  of  the  same  nature  as  those  in  the  psalter 
ascribed  to  David.  There  is  a  prophetic  oracle  in  regular 
tristichs  in  the  Ascension  of  Moses  (10  :  i-io).  In  the 
Apocalypse  of  Ezra  there  are  many  lyrical  fragments, 
such  as  4 :  7-8,  23-24;  5  :  4-5,  36-37;  6:1-5;  7  :  23-24, 
33-36,  37-38,  and  also  longer  poetic  sections  like  the 
prayer  and  the  answer  of  Ezra  (8  :  20-30,  39-42,  52-54), 
the  elegy  (10  :  21-24),  ^•nd  the  prophecy  against  the  eagle 
(11:40-45).  Similarly,  there  is  in  the  Apocalypse  of 
Baruch  a  lament  over  Zion  (10  :  6-17),  a  prayer  of  Baruch 
(48  :  1-2 1),  and  a  prophecy  in  verse  (83  :  10-21).  The 
only  poetic  insertion  in  the  Testaments  of  the  Twelve 
Patriarchs  seems  to  be  2  :  6  (Simeon).  The  Magnificat 
(Luke  I  :  46-55),  ascribed  to  Elizabeth  before  it  was  put 
on  the  lips  of  Mary,  the  Prophecy  of  Zechariah  (Luke  i  : 
68-79),  and  the  Hymn  of  Symeon  (Luke  2  :  29-32)  were 
probably,  in  their  original  form,  written  in  Hebrew. 
It  may  not  be  fair  to  judge  the  poetry  of  the  Greek- 
7 


Introduction  The  Messages 

speaking  Jews  by  the  fragments  that  have  come  down  to 
us.  If  we  possessed  in  its  entirety  the  epic  poem,  entitled 
"Concerning  Jerusalem,"  written  by  Philo  in  the  second 
century  B.  C,  it  is  possible  that  grandeur  of  conception  or 
wealth  of  incident  might  offset  the  rather  unfavorable  im- 
pression left  by  the  defects  of  style  in  the  excerpts  pre- 
served in  Eusebius  (PrcBparatio  evangelica,  IX,  20,  24,  37). 
The  somewhat  longer  extracts  in  Eusebius  (ibid.,  IX,  28, 
29),  and  Clement  of  Alexandria  (Strom.,  I,  23,  155)  from  a 
drama  by  the  tragedian  Ezekiel,  who  probably  also  lived 
before  Alexander  Polyhistor  in  the  second  century  B.  C, 
reveal  more  power.  This  drama  was  called  "Exodus  " ;  and 
Ezekiel  is  said  to  have  written  other  dramas.  A  dramatic 
literature  seems  to  have  developed  in  Hellenistic  circles, 
having  the  purpose  of  bringing  home  to  the  Jews  the  sig- 
nificance of  certain  epochs  in  their  history,  weaning  them 
away  from  the  seduction  of  pagan  plays,  and  making  a 
wholesome  impression  upon  their  neighbors,  as  Schiirer 
suggests  (Gesch.  d.  jiid.  Volkes,  III,*  502).  Books  III,  IV, 
V,  and  probably  XII  of  the  Sibylline  Oracles  are  the  re- 
mains of  what  is  likely  to  have  been  a  very  extensive 
literature  in  imitation  of  the  inspired  utterances  of  the 
sibyls.  While  it  is  possible  that  the  authors,  who  lived 
at  various  times  between  145  B.  C.  and  235  A,  D.,  incor- 
porated material  drawn  from  the  collections  ascribed  to 
the  Erythraean  and  Babylonian  sibyls,  it  is  certain  that 
the  earliest  among  them  were  acquainted  with  such  pagan 
8 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

oracles  and  copied  their  style,  while  they  all  wrote  in  an 
apologetic  and  missionary  spirit.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
verses  written  by  Hellenistic  Jews  before  loo  B.  C.  and 
ascribed  to  Orpheus,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Linus,  ^schylus, 
Sophocles,  Euripides,  Philemon,  Menander,  and  Diphilus, 
quoted  by  Clement  on  the  authority  of  Pseudo-Hecataeus 
{Strom.,  V,  14),  by  Eusebius  (/.  c,  XHI,  12,  13),  and  by 
Pseudo- Justin  (Cohortatio  ad  GrcBCos,  XV,  XVIII,  and  De 
monarchia,  II-IV).  It  is  evident  that,  whether  they  spoke 
Hebrew,  Aramaic,  or  Greek,  the  Jews  in  antiquity  zealously 
cultivated  the  muse,  and  that  large  collections  of  their 
poetry  have  either  been  lost  absolutely,  or  preserved  only 
in  fragments,  or  in  often  very  poor  translations. 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  affirm  that  what  has  come 
down  through  the  ages  is  the  best  of  what  was  produced, 
and  that  some  masterpieces  may  not  have  perished.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  only  seven  plays  are  extant  of  the 
ninety  written  by  ^schylus,  seven  of  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty  produced  by  Sophocles,  and  eighteen  of  the  ninety- 
two  dramas  of  Euripides,  and  that  among  those  lost  were 
some  of  the  most  unique  and  wonderful  creations  of  poetic 
genius,  as  fragments,  descriptions,  and  ancient  estimates 
indicate,  the  suggestion  cannot  seem  strange  that  the 
ancient  Hebrews  may  have  possessed  poems  quite  equal, 
or  even  superior,  to  those  that,  for  one  reason  or  another, 
have  survived.  But  for  a  curious  misunderstanding,  ren- 
dered possible  by  current  methods  of  interpretation,  the 

9 


Introduction  The  Messages 

critical  movement  that  swept  out  of  the  synagogue  so  large 
a  number  of  important  works,  once  held  in  high  honor, 
would  almost  certainly  have  eliminated  from  our  Hebrew 
Bible  the  Book  of  Canticles.  The  Book  of  Job  apparently 
did  not  encounter  such  an  opposition  as  Canticles;  yet  had 
its  true  nature  been  appreciated  at  the  time  when  4  Ezra 
fell  outside  the  breastworks  and  Daniel  was  driven  from 
his  place  among  the  prophets,  it  would  have  been  in 
Jeopardy  of  life.  We  have  every  reason  to  rejoice  that 
these  priceless  treasures  were  saved  and  that  so  much, 
besides,  of  the  poetic  lore  of  ancient  Israel  and  Judah  has 
found  its  way  to  us. 

The  poetry  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  may  be  divided  into  the 
following  groups: 

I.  Hymns  in  the  Psalter  and  some  of  the  Prophetic 
Books. 

II.  A  dramatic  Dialogue  (Job). 

III.  Love  Poetry  (Canticles,  Ps.  45). 

IV.  Elegies  (Lamentations,  2  Sam.  i  :  18-27,  ^t^)- 

V.  Lyrics  inserted  in  the  Historical  Books. 

VI.  Gnomic  Poetry  (Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes  in  part). 

VII.  Oracles  in  poetic  form  (The  Prophets). 

The  Psalter  has  been  treated  in  Vol.  V  of  this  series, 
"The  Messages  of  the  Psalmists,"  and  some  hymns  intro' 
duced  in  the  prophetic  books  in  Vol.  I,  "The  Messages  of 
the  Earlier  Prophets,"  and  Vol.  II,  "The  Messages  of  the 
Later  Prophets."  The  Book  of  Lamentations  was  dis- 
10 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

cussed  in  Vol.  V,  Proverbs  and  Ecclesiastes  are  treated  in 
Vol.  VI,  ''The  Messages  of  the  Sages."  The  oracles  of 
the  prophets  have  been  interpreted  in  Vols.  I  and  II. 

There  remain  for  the  present  volume  the  two  great 
masterpieces  of  Hebrew  poetry,  Job  and  Canticles,  and 
some  shorter  poems  found  chiefly  in  the  historical  books, 
among  them  such  gems  as  the  Song  of  Deborah  and 
David's  Elegy  over  Saul  and  Jonathan. 


II 

GENERAL  CHARACTER  OF  THIS  POETRY 

It  is  natural  to  compare  what  we  possess  of  ancient 
Hebrew  poetry  with  the  poetic  lore  of  other  nations. 
Without  such  a  comparison  it  is,  indeed,  possible  to  gain 
an  immediate  impression  of  its  grandeur  and  beauty,  but 
what  it  is,  and  what  it  is  not,  its  real  nature,  cannot  be 
appreciated.  Unfortunately,  very  little  has  come  down 
to  us  of  the  poetry  produced  by  the  other  Semitic  peoples 
before  the  establishment  among  them  of  Christianity  or 
Islam.  If  our  knowledge  of  the  songs  of  Israel  and  Judah 
is  painfully  fragmentary,  we  know  scarcely  anything  at  all 
concerning  those  that  were  sung  in  Edom,  Moab,  and 
Ammon,  in  the  Phoenician  and  Aramaean  cities,  and  by 
the  Semitized  Philistines. 

II 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Allusions  in  Hebrew  literature  render  it  probable  that 
gnomic  poetry  flourished  in  Edom.  In  Obad.  8,  Yahwe 
says:  "Shall  I  not  destroy  the  wise  men  out  of  Edom?" 
'*Is  there  no  wisdom  in  Teman?"  the  prophet  asks  in  Jer. 
49  :  7;  and  there  probably  was  good  reason  why  Eliphaz 
the  Temanite  should  have  been  chosen  as  one  of  the  dis- 
putants in  the  Book  of  Job.  Teman  was  the  northern 
district  of  Edom,  having  for  its  capital  Bozrah,  the  mod- 
ern Buzeireh.  But  no  sample  of  Edomitish  poetry  has 
survived.     The  same  holds  true  of  Moab  and  Ammon. 

It  is  possible,  however,  that  we  possess  specimens  of  the 
poetry  of  a  kindred  people  in  the  verses  of  Agur  ben  Jakeh, 
of  Massa  (Prov.  30  :  i),  and  of  Lemuel,  king  of  Massa 
(Prov.  31  :  i).  When  these  poets  Hved  we  do  not  know. 
Massa  seems  to  have  been  located  somewhere  to  the  south 
of  Edom.  If  the  ascription  is  trustworthy,  or  at  least  some 
of  these  verses  originated  in  the  neighboring  people  whose 
existence  is  vouched  for  by  the  Babylonian  letter  K  562, 
they  reveal  a  marked  similarity  to  the  proverbial  poetry  of 
the  Hebrews  both  in  form  and  substance.  The  Bene 
Kedem  in  the  Syrian  desert  were  also  famous  for  their 
wisdom,  their  wise  sayings  clothed  in  a  poetic  garb  (i  Kings 
4  :  30,  Eng.,  5  :  10  Heb.);  and  whether  the  land  of  Uz, 
which  lay  within  the  general  territory  of  the  Bene  Kedem, 
was  nearer  to  Damascus  or  to  Edom,  the  author  of  the  dia- 
logues of  Job,  no  doubt,  had  sufficient  knowledge  of  its 
people  to  make  the  hero  of  the  old  folk-tale,  who  was  a 
12 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

native  of  that  country,  the  exponent  of  his  most  sublime 
and  daring  thought,  the  master  of  a  rich  imagination  and 
of  a  perfect  style.  But  the  poetry  of  the  Bene  Kedem  is  lost. 
Of  no  other  city,  save  Jerusalem,  did  a  Hebrew  writer 
ever  sing  such  a  rapturous  ode  as  that  to  Tyre  in  Ezek.  28  : 
12-15.  In  spite  of  the  denunciatory  tone,  here  and  else- 
where, there  is  an  unmistakable  admiration  for  its  culture, 
its  wisdom,  and  its  gay  life.  The  oracle,  indeed,  predicts: 
"I  will  cause  the  noise  of  thy  songs  to  cease;  and  the  sound 
of  thy  harps  shall  be  heard  no  more"  (Ezek.  26  :  13),  but 
the  prophet  continues  to  linger  with  evident  pleasure  upon 
every  feature  of  the  city's  greatness.  To  its  music  and  its 
songs  Isa.  23  :  15  fif.  refers.  Tyre  is  like  a  gay  woman 
who  has  sung  many  songs  to  the  accompaniment  of 
stringed  instruments  in  the  heyday  of  her  life,  and  will  sing 
many  more,  walking  about  with  her  harp,  in  the  days  when 
she  shall  be  forgotten  by  her  lovers.  Yet  she  is  too  good 
to  be  lost.  She  will  return  to  prosperity,  and  learn  to 
honor  Yahwe  and  care  for  his  servants.  The  wisdom  of 
Byblos  is  also  mentioned.  There  can  scarcely  be  a  ques- 
tion that  the  Phoenicians  had  a  poetic  literature.  Eusebius 
(in  his  PrcBparatio  evangelica,  I,  10)  has  preserved  what 
purports  to  be  a  translation  of  a  Phoenician  history  by 
Sanchuniathon,  made  by  Philo  Herennius  of  Byblos,  who 
seems  to  have  been  born  ca.  64  A.  D.  Many  scholars  have 
supposed  that  Philo  in  reality  was  the  author  of  this  work; 
and  it  is  altogether  probable  that  the  euhemeristic  interpre- 
ts 


Introduction  The  Messages 

tation  of  the  myths  is  due  to  him.  But  while  the  conflict- 
ing testimony  does  not  permit  us  to  determine  the  age  of 
Sanchuniathon,  there  is  no  symboHsm  about  his  name, 
Sakkun-yaton,  and  no  good  reason  for  doubting  that  a 
work  bearing  his  name  once  existed.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  know  whether  the  rich  mythology  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians had  before  his  time  been  treated  in  the  form  of  an 
epic.  But  it  would  be  hazardous  to  attempt  to  recover 
it,  after  the  material  has  been  worked  over  first  by  San- 
chuniathon and  then  by  Philo.  Concerning  the  Philistines 
we  only  know  that  the  Hebrews  were  very  sensitive  to  their 
satirical  songs,  and  that  at  their  wedding  festivals  riddles 
in  poetic  form  seem  to  have  been  propounded  (2  Sam. 
I  :  20;   Judges  14  :  14). 

The  question  whether  the  poetry  of  the  other  nations  in 
ancient  Syria  equalled  that  of  the  Hebrews  cannot  be 
answered  a  priori  either  in  the  affirmative  or  the  nega- 
tive. If  we  were  reduced  to  the  inscriptional  material,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  other  peoples,  the  Siloam  inscription,  the 
Gezer  calendar,  and  the  words  on  seals,  gems,  coins,  and 
tombstones  would  be  of  far  less  value  than  either  the  Mo- 
abite  stone,  the  Zakir  inscription,  the  Hadad  and  Panamu 
steles,  or  the  Phoenician  inscriptions  from  Sidon,  It  was 
decided  by  the  Pharisees  that  "sacred  books  render  the 
hands  unclean,"  necessitating  an  ablution,  after  contact 
with  them,  to  remove  the  clinging  sanctity.  Whether  we 
call  this  superstition,  or  love,  or  a  mixture  of  both,  the 
14 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

Pharisaic  critics  who  thus  fixed  the  limits  of  the  canon 
are  entitled  to  sincere  gratitude.  We  could  only  wish  that 
they  had  been  a  little  less  thorough-going  and  radical  in 
their  criticism.  And  would  that  the  other  Syrian  nations 
had  in  a  similar  manner  preserved  their  treasures,  or  that 
they  had  written  on  clay  instead  of  on  parchment! 

For  our  knowledge  of  Babylonian  poetry  we  are  not 
dependent  upon  uncertain  allusions  in  Hebrew  writings, 
but  can  consult  large  numbers  of  clay  tablets  inscribed  with 
poetic  productions  of  various  kinds.  There  are  not  only 
lyrics,  penitential  hymns,  prayers  to  Shamash,  the  sun-god, 
or  to  other  gods,  and  oracles  in  poetic  form,  but  there  are 
also  epics.  Thus  we  have  two  epics  of  creation,  the  Gilga- 
mesh  epic,  of  which  the  story  of  the  deluge  forms  a  part, 
and  possibly  others.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  Etana  and 
Adapa  myths  are  told  in  metrical  form.  The  prevailing 
metrical  structure  is  the  double  verse,  or  tetrastich,  form- 
ing a  strophe,  the  distich  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  often 
written  with  a  space  between  them,  each  part  having  two 
(or  three)  beats,  and  the  foot  being  iambic  or  anapestic. 
In  Assyrian  literature,  the  oracles  delivered  by  the  priest- 
esses of  Ishtar  at  Arbela  are  of  special  interest.  Curiously 
enough,  there  seems  to  be  very  much  more  secular  poetry 
in  the  Hebrew  Bible  than  in  extant  Babylonian  and  Assyrian 
texts.     But  further  finds  may  change  this  situation. 

On  the  other  hand,  pre-Islamic  poetry  in  Arabia  is  dis- 
tinctly secular.  Imru'l  Kais,  Harith,  Labid,  and  the  other 
15 


Introduction  The  Messages 

masters  of  the  century  before  Muhammad  sang  of  war, 
wine,  and  woman,  of  the  camel  and  the  horse,  the  desert 
sand  and  the  starry  sky.  In  their  poems,  honored  by  the 
title  "al  Mu'allakat,"  we  find  something  of  the  fierce  hatred 
of  enemies  that  glows  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  the  friend- 
ship, faithful  even  unto  death,  that  gives  to  David's  elegy 
such  pathos,  the  pride  of  tribe  and  clan  that  is  so  marked 
in  the  Blessing  of  Jacob,  the  close  observation  of  the  ani- 
mal world  seen  in  the  speech  of  Yahwe  out  of  the  storm 
in  the  Book  of  Job,  and  the  passionate,  sensuous  descrip- 
tions of  woman's  beauty  familiar  to  us  through  some  of 
the  Canticles.  But  there  are  no  penitential  hymns,  like 
those  of  Babylonians  and  Hebrews,  no  praise-songs,  no 
lyrics  breathing  the  spirit  of  religious  devotion.  It  is  only 
centuries  later  that  we  meet  in  the  greatest  poet-philosopher 
of  the  Arabic-speaking  world,  Abu'l  Ala  al  Ma'arri  (973- 
1058  A.  D.),  with  something  of  the  same  deep  consciousness 
of  the  problems  of  existence,  bold  radicalism,  and  moral 
earnestness  in  grappling  with  them,  and  consummate  lit- 
erary skill  in  presenting  unpopular  ideas,  that  make  the 
dialogues  of  Job  so  significant.  There  is  an  approach  in 
al  Ma'arri's  ''Letter  of  Forgiveness,"  as  in  al  Hariri's 
"Makamat,"  to  the  dramatic  dialogue.  But  a  true  drama 
never  seems  to  have  been  produced  by  any  Arabic  poet. 

The  Aramaic  poetry  known  to  us  consists  almost  ex- 
clusively of  religious  songs.     Such  are  the  baptismal  hymns 
of  the  Mandaeans  collected   in   the   Qolasta,    such    the 
16 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

Gnostic  hymns  preserved  in  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  such  the 
hymns  of  Ephraem,  Jacob  of  Edessa,  and  others.  Some 
of  the  songs  sung  in  his  youth  by  the  great  Sabian  poet, 
Abu'l  Ishaq  ben  Ibrahim,  of  Harran,  in  praise  of  roses, 
wine,  and  women,  seem  to  have  been  written  in  Syriac; 
and  the  translators  of  Greek  poetry  may  now  and  then 
have  been  imitators  as  well.  But  scarcely  anything  is 
known  of  pagan  Aramaic  poetry,  whether  from  earlier 
periods  or  later  times. 

The  Egyptians  were  a  music-loving  people.  There  are 
numerous  pictorial  representations  of  singers  and  musicians, 
and  frequent  references  to  them  in  the  texts.  In  view  of 
this  fact,  it  is  strange  that  we  should  know  so  little  about 
Egyptian  poetry.  We  have,  indeed,  some  love-songs,  occa- 
sionally reminding  of  the  Canticles,  though  quite  inferior 
in  delicacy  and  finish.  It  is  possible  that  some  oracles 
and  proverbial  sayings  were  composed  in  poetic  form,  and 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  vowels  they  used  with  their  con- 
sonants would  reveal  to  us  the  poetic  structure  of  some 
texts  that  appear  to  us  to  be  prose.  A  collection  of  love- 
songs  in  the  Coptic,  not  altogether  without  merit,  shows 
that  such  effusions  at  all  times  lived  upon  the  lips  of  the 
people.  But  with  all  the  vaunted  wisdom  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, their  literature,  extending  over  four  thousand  years, 
cannot  boast  a  single  great  poem. 

If  Hebrew  poetry  is  compared  with  that  of  the  Aryan 
peoples,  a  notable  difference  is  at  once  apparent.     These 

17 


Introduction  The  Messages 

nations  have  produced  the  great  epics  and  dramas  of  the 
world's  literature.  India  has  not  only  given  us  hymns  in 
the  Vedas,  philosophy  in  verse,  exquisite  love-lyrics,  but 
the  great  epics,  Ramayana  and  Mahabharata,  and  the  re- 
markable dramas  of  Kahdasa,  Bhavabhuti,  Sudraka,  and 
Sri  Harsha;  Iran  not  only  the  Gathas  of  the  Avesta,  remind- 
ing, now  of  the  Psalms,  now  of  the  prophetic  oracles,  and 
the-  songs  of  wise  Sa'di,  Hafiz,  and  Umar  Khayyam,  but 
Firdausi's  great  epic  Shah  Namah;  Greece,  as  the  very 
first-fruits  of  European  letters,  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey, 
the  perhaps  unexcelled  tragedies  of  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles, 
and  Euripides,  and  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes  and 
Menander,  as  well  as  the  dialogues  of  Plato,  the  poet 
among  the  philosophers,  and  the  idyls  of  Theocritus  and 
love-songs  of  Meleager,  so  constandy  reminding  of  the 
Candcles;  and  Rome,  besides  the  lyrics  of  Catullus,  Horace, 
and  Ovid,  and  the  grim  satires  of  Juvenal,  exhibiting  the 
moral  fervor  of  a  Hebrew  prophet,  the  plays  of  Plautus 
and  Terence,  and  the  epics  of  Lucretius  and  Vergil,  not  to 
speak  of  Lucan,  Silius,  and  Statins.  So  also  modern  Eu- 
ropean literature  is  ushered  in  by  Dante's  epic,  the  Divina 
Commedia,  and  few  have  been  its  great  poets,  however  es- 
sentially lyrical  their  muse,  who  have  not  sought  to  express 
themselves  in  the  epic  or  the  drama. 

These  are  the  forms  of  poetic  expression  that  are  lacking 
in  Hebrew  literature.     Job  is  not  a  drama;  though  it  tends 
in  that  direction,  being  a  dramatic  dialogue.     It  possesses 
i8 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

no  action,  which  is  essential  to  a  drama.  Canticles  is  not 
a  drama,  though  the  oaristys,  or  fond  discourse  of  lovers, 
is  employed  in  some  of  the  songs.  It  is  possible  that  this 
absence  of  the  drama  is  due  to  the  suppression  of  polythe- 
ism and  the  private  mystery-cults.  Were  it  not  for  the 
Krishna  mysteries,  the  Eleusinian  and  Orphic  mysteries, 
the  passion  plays  and  the  moralities,  we  might  not  have 
had  a  Kalidasa,  an  ^Eschylus,  a  Shakespeare,  and  a  Moli- 
ere.  It  may  be  also  that  it  is  connected  with  fundamental 
psychological  traits  in  the  character  of  the  Semitic  and 
Hamitic  peoples,  since  the  restraints  of  a  monotheistic  re- 
form do  not  seem  to  have  been  felt  in  early  times  outside  of 
Israel  and  Judah,  and  it  is  not  apparent  why  the  Isis  and 
Osiris  mysteries  should  not  have  led  to  an  Egyptian  drama. 
Productions  of  Greek-speaking  Jews  in  Alexandria  or 
modern  Jews  are  scarcely  of  a  nature  to  affect  the  decision. 
Similarly,  the  suppression  of  mythology  may  have  had 
something  to  do  with  the  absence  of  an  epic  in  Hebrew 
literature.  Yet  no  one  would  seriously  think  of  comparing 
the  Gilgamesh  epic  with  Ramayana,  the  Odyssey,  or  the 
^neid,  and  the  Babylonians  had  a  flourishing  mythology. 
Besides,  it  is  far  from  certain  that  these  Babylonian  epics 
may  not  have  originated  with  the  Shumerians. 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  contrast  between  modern 
occidental  poetry  and  that  of  the  ancient  Hebrews  lies  in  the 
interpretation  of  nature  and  in  the  character  of  the  love 
described.    There  may  be  a  richness  of  sentiment  in  "Die 

19 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Wacht  am  Rhein,"  "La  Marseillaise,"  or  "The  Battle 
Hymn  of  the  Republic"  that  is  lacking  in  the  fiercer  strains 
of  the  Song  of  Lamech,  the  Song  of  Deborah,  or  the  Song  of 
Judith.  But  the  war-songs  of  the  nations  change  less  than 
do  the  utterances  inspired  by  the  growing  appreciation  of 
nature  and  of  love.  Peculiar  to  modern  man  is  a  certain 
tenderness  of  feeling  for  the  things  about  him,  an  absorbing 
interest  in  their  minutest  features,  a  passion  for  the  beauty 
of  natural  objects,  a  deep  sense  of  the  mystery  of  all  that 
exists,  a  very  real  communion  with  nature,  a  consciousness 
of  being  bound  up  with  it  in  a  common  destiny,  a  fellow- 
ship of  joy  and  sorrow,  life  and  death.  These  character- 
istics may  be  due  to  the  departure  of  the  spirits  that  once 
hid  behind  the  phenomena  of  nature,  the  marvellous  re- 
wards of  scientific  inquiry,  the  appalling  mass  of  the  resi- 
due that  baffles  explanation,  the  maturing  judgment,  or  the 
ripening  artistic  taste.  They  are  felt  in  all  our  poetry, 
from  Dante,  Petrarch,  and  Boccaccio  to  Goethe,  Words- 
worth, Victor  Hugo,  and  Meredith;  while  in  most  ancient 
poetry  they  are  absent.  Even  in  Theocritus  and  the  Greek 
Anthology,  in  Lucretius  and  Vergil,  in  Kalidasa  and  Hafiz, 
with  all  the  lingering  delight  in  the  painting  of  the  scenery, 
we  miss  the  distinguishing  note,  the  throbbing  passion  for 
nature. 

This  applies  to  Hebrew  poetry  as  well.     In  the  earlier 
poems  nature  plays  no  part,  unless  an  earthquake  or  a 
thunder-storm  is  introduced,  and  it  does  not  interest  the 
20 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

poet  for  its  own  sake,  but  simply  because  it  announces  the 
appearance  of  Israel's  God.  The  psalmists  sometimes 
enumerate  at  great  length  natural  elements  and  objects, 
but  only  in  marshalling  them  as  an  army  for  the  wars  of 
the  Most  High  or  in  arranging  them  like  priestly  divisions 
for  service  in  the  heavenly  temple.  It  is  with  a  naive, 
open-eyed  wonder  that  the  author  of  the  Speech  of  Yah  we 
in  Job  looks  out  upon  a  world  where  there  are  so  many 
curiously  knit  constellations  of  shining  objects  in  the  sky, 
so  many  treasuries  in  heaven  of  rain,  and  snow,  and  hail, 
and  sleet,  so  many  wild  animals  that  in  some  way  get  their 
food,  so  many  huge,  unmanageable  beasts,  so  many  birds 
that  fly,  and  build  their  nests,  and  swoop  down  upon  their 
prey.  What  interests  him  is  the  contrast  between  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God  and  the  insignificance  and 
ignorance  of  man.  Nowhere  else  is  there  such  an  approach 
to  the  modern  feeling  for  nature  as  in  Canticles.  The 
glories  of  the  spring,  the  flower-covered  fields,  the  snow- 
capped mountains  in  the  north,  the  wild  out-of-doors  of 
Palestine  have  manifestly  touched  the  poet's  heart  and 
fired  his  imagination.  But  it  is  only  an  approach  to  the 
modern  attitude;  and  there  is  no  trace  anywhere  of  the 
sense  of  mystery. 

The  poets  of  all  nations  have  praised  the  physical 
charms  of  woman  and  the  satisfactions  of  sensuous  con- 
tact. Ancient  love  poetry  wellnigh  confined  itself  to  such 
rapturous  praise.     There  is  not  much  difference  between 

21 


Introduction  The  Messages 

the  love  described  by  Kalidasa,  Theocritus,  and  the  author 
of  Canticles.  The  distinct  change  came  with  Dante's 
Vita  Nuova.  Without  neglecting  the  life  of  the  senses, 
modern  love  poetry  puts  the  stress  upon  the  spiritual  side. 
It  is  the  goodness,  gentleness,  and  grace,  the  intelligence, 
insight,  and  wisdom,  the  patience,  loyalty,  and  devotion  of 
woman  that  are  extolled.  Our  poets  sing  the  unspeak- 
able joys  of  fellowship,  of  a  communion  between  soul  and 
soul  in  freedom  and  equality,  a  tie  that  binds  by  common 
duties  and  by  common  interests,  a  mystic  union  wrought  by 
mutual  self-impartations,  a  relation  implying  a  free  and 
voluntary  sharing  of  life,  but  no  enforced  proprietorship. 
With  the  enhanced  sense  of  the  worth  of  the  individual 
through  the  shifting  of  emphasis  from  body  to  soul,  there 
has  of  necessity  come  into  modern  love  poetry  a  melan- 
choly note.  It  is  not  strange  that  so  much  of  it  should  be 
in  the  minor  key.  There  are  the  adjustments,  more  diffi- 
cult than  before,  of  spiritual  attraction  and  social  institu- 
tions. All  the  really  bitter  cries  of  unrequited  or  of  hope- 
less love  that  have  found  a  voice  in  the  world's  literature 
have  been  uttered  by  modern  poets.  Of  all  this  there  is  no 
touch  in  Canticles.  The  love  of  these  songs  is  frankly 
sensuous,  wastes  no  words  on  the  soul,  lifts  no  wings  for 
celestial  flights,  lives  and  breathes  near  the  bosom  of  earth, 
is  contented,  and  care-free,  and  joyous,  knows  no  pain  the 
next  kiss  will  not  cure. 

There  can  scarcely  be  any  question  that  the  place  of 

22 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

honor  in  Hebrew  literature  belongs  to  the  Book  of  Job. 
It  is  the  most  wonderful  poem  produced  by  any  Semitic 
people.  Goethe  himself  acknowledged  the  profound  in- 
fluence it  had  exerted  upon  him,  as  did  Byron  in  the  com- 
position of  his  "Manfred."  No  one  would  claim  that  Job 
is  the  equal  of  "Faust"  either  in  literary  charm  or  profun- 
dity of  thought.  But,  considering  its  age  and  provenience, 
it  is  a  most  marvellous  work  of  poetic  genius,  and  will 
always  hold  its  position  among  the  noblest  utterances  in 
the  world's  literature. 


Ill 

FORM   OF   HEBREW  POETRY 

I.  The  Rhythm 

The  essential  characteristic  of  all  poetry  is  rhythm. 
In  poetry,  as  in  music  and  the  dance,  the  rhythmic  impres- 
sion is  due,  on  the  one  hand,  to  objective  stimuli  that  may 
or  may  not  themselves  be  rhythmical,  on  the  other  hand, 
to  a  group  feeling  arising  from  the  rhythms  in  the  general 
organs  of  the  body.  These  organic  rhythms  are  not  solely 
connected  with  pulse  and  respiration,  since  in  that  case 
their  period  would  be  practically  a  constant,  but  with  a 
variety  of  tension  and  movement  sensations.  For  the  per- 
ception of  rhythm  it  is  indispensable  that  the  group  shall 
2^ 


Introduction  The  Messages 

appear  as  a  unit.  A  kinaesthetic  sensation  within  the  group 
furnishes  to  consciousness  the  unifying  element.  The 
groups  appear  to  be  separated  either  by  a  longer  interval, 
or  by  a  regularly  recurring  accent,  or  by  both.  As  the 
elements  constituting  the  group  succeed  one  another  in 
time,  there  can  be  no  rhythm  without  time  divisions  fixed 
in  a  certain  ratio.  In  music,  rhythm  is  produced  by 
amplitude,  intensity  or  pitch,  and  quality  or  tone-color 
of  the  air-waves.  The  tone  is  loud  or  dull,  high  or  low, 
of  this  or  that  tonic  quality. 

Poetic  rhythm  is  effected  by  stress  or  accent,  acceleration 
or  retardation  of  movement,  and  grouping.  Sometimes 
there  is  added  to  these  quantity,  or  duration  of  syllables. 
But  the  lengthening  is  without  question  due  to  stress,  as  it 
has  been  experimentally  verified  that  the  accented  syllable 
always  takes  more  time  than  the  unaccented.  In  ancient 
Greek,  Latin,  and  classical  Arabic  poetry  the  emphasis 
was  placed  upon  quantity,  so  that,  in  scanning  the  verse, 
the  usual  word-accent  was  apparently  ignored.  It  should 
be  observed,  however,  that  the  accent  would  ordinarily  fall 
upon  a  long  syllable,  that  almost  necessarily  a  secondary 
stress  must  have  been  given  to  an  unaccented  long  vowel 
in  prose,  and  to  an  accented  short  vowel  in  verse,  and  that 
the  duration  of  vowels,  theoretically  of  equal  length,  can 
only  have  been  approximately  the  same.  The  stress,  after 
all,  remained  of  the  greatest  practical  importance. 

With  most  peoples,  ancient  and  modern,  the  accent  has 
24 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

been  the  determining  factor  in  the  production  of  poetic 
rhythm,  rather  than  quantity.  Accentuating  poetry  does 
not  indicate  the  groups,  and  the  relations  of  the  time 
divisions  within  the  group,  by  a  definitely  arranged  suc- 
cession of  long  and  short  syllables  of  measured  duration, 
but  by  the  incidence  of  stress  without  such  measurement. 
This  stress  itself  does,  indeed,  give  increased  duration  to 
the  accented  syllable,  so  that  the  distinction  from  a  more 
markedly  quantitative  poetry  is  not  as  great  as  sometimes 
represented,  especially  as  in  scansion  the  measuring  of  the 
time  divisions  is  likely  to  have  been  modified  by  logical 
demands  and  secondary  stress  on  the  ordinarily  accented 
syllables. 

Hebrew  poetry  is  accentuating.  The  attempts  of  Go- 
marus,  Jones,  and  Greve  to  prove  that  its  rhythm  depended 
on  the  quantity  of  syllables  as  much  as  Greek,  Latin,  or 
Arabic  poetry  could  lead  only  to  failure.  They  were  in 
part  induced  by  the  manner  in  which  Philo,  Josephus, 
Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome  had  spoken  of  the  metrical 
system  of  the  Hebrews.  Tetrameters,  pentameters,  hex- 
ameters, iambics,  dactyls,  and  spondees  were  naturally 
supposed  to  carry  their  ordinary  meaning  in  Greek.  How 
far  these  ancient  writers  themselves  perceived  the  diflference 
is  not  altogether  clear.  Comparison  with  Syriac  led  Hare, 
in  1736,  to  the  idea  that  quantity  did  not  count,  but  only 
the  number  of  syllables  which  he  took  to  be  two  in  each 
foot.    In  spite  of  Lowth's  forcible  and  on  some  points 

25 


Introduction  The  Messages 

well-considered  criticism,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 
this  position  was  of  fundamental  importance,  because  it 
abandoned  the  quantitative  theory  and  yet  was  able  to 
recognize  the  foot  as  the  proper  designation  of  the  rhyth- 
mic unit.  As  Syriac  poetry  in  reality  accentuates,  Merx, 
Bickell,  and  others  pointed  to  the  laws  of  versification  in 
the  Romance  languages  which  take  cognizance  of  the 
number  of  syllables  only,  but  not  of  either  accent  or  quan- 
tity. The  Massoretic  text  and  the  traditional  punctuation 
possibly  suffered  too  much  from  a  theory  that  required 
iambics  and  trochees  everywhere. 

The  fact  that  in  Hebrew  prosody  the  accent  is  the  de- 
termining element  was  already  seen  by  Anton  in  1770, 
He  recognized  also  that  the  prevailing  feet  are  iambic  and 
anapestic.  Saalschuetz  observed  the  similarity  between 
Hebrew  and  Germanic  prosody,  but  not  the  preference  of 
the  former  for  the  ascending  rhythm.  In  Ley's  system, 
the  arsis,  or  accented  syllable,  is  given  sufficient  importance, 
but  the  thesis,  or  unaccented  part  of  the  group,  is  dealt 
with  less  satisfactorily.  No  just  conception  of  rhythm  will 
permit  an  indeterminate  number  of  unaccented  syllables 
between  the  accented  ones.  Duhm,  who  theoretically  con- 
sidered Hebrew  prosody  as  regardless  of  the  number,  posi- 
tion, or  length  of  syllables  in  the  thesis  as  the  German 
folk-song  is,  in  practice  brought  to  light  less  irregularity  in 
these  respects  than  he  was  willing  to  allow.  Grimme  felt 
that  the  secondary  stress  on  long  syllables  could  not  be 
26 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

neglected,  and  sought  the  foundation  for  a  system  that 
should  take  account  of  the  quantity  as  well  as  the  accent, 
in  the  probable  facts  of  primitive  Semitic  speech,  and  in 
the  morcB,  or  smallest  time  units  that  may  be  assigned  to 
the  vowels.     His  system  was  adopted  by  Schloegl. 

On  the  other  hand,  Sievers  found  himself  obliged  to 
reject  both  the  supposed  law  of  the  morce  and  the  Massoretic 
recession  of  the  accent  in  pause,  whether  connected  with 
a  primitive  pronunciation  or  not.  He  noticed  the  ascend- 
ing accentuation,  defined  the  most  frequently  employed 
foot  as  of  the  nature  of  an  anapest,  spoke,  nevertheless,  of 
an  "irrational  rhythm,"  and  regarded  as  poetry  much  of 
the  narrative  material  that  had  previously  been  considered 
as  prose.  He  is,  in  the  main,  followed  by  Rothstein,  who, 
however,  insists  upon  a  more  careful  delimitation  of  poetry, 
and  is  more  keenly  conscious  of  the  uncertainty  of  our 
present  text  and  the  frequent  need  of  emendation.  It  is 
the  contention  of  Arnold  that  Aristoxenus  never  spoke  of 
an  "irrational  rhythm."  In  essential  harmony  with  the 
great  Greek  musician,  he  defines  rhythm  as  "a  period  of 
time  divided  into  two  palpably  commensurate  times,  sus- 
taining to  each  other  one  of  three  ratios — i  :  i,  2  :  3,  or 
I  :  2,"  but  agrees  with  most  recent  critics  that  Hebrew 
poetry  is  accentuating  and  not  quantifying. 

In  spite  of  difference  of  opinion,  there  has  been  a  de- 
cided advance  in  the  appreciation  of  Hebrew  rhythm. 
While  the  results  of  psycho-physical  studies  have  hitherto 
27 


Introduction  The  Messages 

been  too  much  neglected  by  those  occupying  themselves 
with  metrical  investigations,  and  the  terms  used  by  students 
of  music  have  not  been  defined  with  desirable  precision,  the 
comparison  with  different  systems  of  prosody  in  ancient 
and  modern  times,  and  the  attempts  at  discovering,  by 
actual  scansion,  what  the  laws  of  Hebrew  versification  may 
have  been,  have  not  been  fruitless,  but  led  to  an  increasingly 
clear  recognition  of  its  essential  nature.  The  determining 
factor  in  Hebrew  rhythm  is  the  accent;  its  prevailing  ten- 
dency is  the  ascending  one;  the  rhythmic  unity  is  the  foot 
consisting  of  two  parts,  having  a  fixed  ratio  to  each  other; 
the  thesis  cannot  be  made  up  of  more  than  three  unaccented 
syllables;  a  secondary  stress  is  likely  to  fall  upon  a  long 
syllable  in  the  thesis;  the  duration  of  the  arsis  is  not 
measured,  but  the  main  stress  of  necessity  causes  a  length- 
ening; the  most  current  feet  are  iambics  and  anapests; 
feet  of  different  nature  may  follow  each  other  in  the  same 
distich  and  even  in  the  same  stichus.  The  chief  works 
dealing  with  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  bibliography 
at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

2.  The  Metre 

There  was  a  quality  in  Hebrew  verse  that  caused  such 

men  as  Philo,  Josephus,  Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome, 

who  had  the  opportunity  of  hearing  it  read  and  sung,  to 

use,  in  describing  it,  the  terms  tetrameter,  pentameter,  and 

28 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

hexameter,  as  well  as  the  Greek  designations  of  the  feet. 
If  it  was  not  the  regular  recurrence  of  long  and  short 
syllables  in  a  fixed  ratio,  it  must  have  been  the  rhythm- 
producing  stress  that  gave  a  similar  impression.  A  distich 
of  three  beats  in  each  stichus  might  often  have  sounded  like 
an  hexameter.  But  the  distich  does  not  possess  quite  the 
unity  of  the  hexameter  line,  and  the  same  foot  is  not  uni- 
formly used.  It  has,  therefore,  been  proposed  to  call  a 
line  with  two  main  accents  binary;  one  with  three,  ternary; 
and  one  with  four,  quaternary.  A  double  binary,  ternary, 
or  quaternary  would,  then,  be  a  distich,  with  respectively 
two,  three,  or  four  beats  in  each  stichus,  while  ternary- 
binary  would  be  one  with  three  in  the  first,  and  two  in  the 
second  line  of  the  distich.  Perhaps  the  most  convenient 
method  of  expressing  the  number  of  arses  in  these  cases  is 
by  figures  such  as  2  :  2,  3  :  3,  4  :  4,  and  3  :  2. 

There  seems  to  be  no  objection  to  the  use  of  the  ordinary 
designations  for  the  foot,  such  as  iambic,  anapest,  paeon, 
and  spondee.  Trochees  and  dactyls  apparently  do  not 
occur,  the  mistaken  idea  of  their  existence  being  probably 
due  to  a  secondary  stress  on  account  of  vowel-length  in 
some  striking  instances.  The  preference  for  the  ascending 
rhythm  is  not  peculiar  to  Hebrew  poetry,  but  characteristic 
of  Semitic  accentuation.  It  no  doubt  depends  upon  racial 
or  ethnic  psychological  tendencies.  Ettlinger  has  pointed 
out  that  the  Greeks  called  the  trochaic  the  restful  (hesychi- 
astic)  and  the  iambic  the  stirring  (diastaltic),  and  that  Bach 
used  the  former  in  the  choral,  the  latter  in  the  gavotte. 
29 


Introduction  The  Messages 


3.  Parallelism 

The  rhythm  of  sentiment  and  thought  characteristic  of 
Hebrew  poetry  was  called  by  Lowth  parallelismus  mem- 
brorum.  It  is  produced  by  so  arranging  the  material  of  a 
distich  or  tristich  as  to  make  the  second  line,  and,  if  the 
parallelism  extends  beyond  the  distich,  the  following  line, 
a  repetition  in  varied  forms,  a  supplement,  or  a  re-enforce- 
ment of  the  fundamental  idea  expressed  in  the  first  line. 
The  thought  does  not  move  on  continuously  from  line  to 
line,  but  returns  upon  itself,  varying,  strengthening,  and 
amplifying  its  content  before  proceeding  on  its  way. 
The  sentiment  does  not  flow  on  like  a  stream,  but  surges 
back  and  forth  like  the  ebb  and  tide  of  the  sea.  Lowth 
recognized  three  varieties  of  parallelism,  the  synonymous, 
the  antithetic,  and  the  synthetic.  When  the  second  line 
repeats  in  varied  form  the  thought  of  the  first,  the  parallel- 
ism is  called  synonymous;  when  it  brings  in  a  contrast, 
antithetic;  and  when  it  furnishes  a  supplement,  synthetic. 
When  the  first  line  is  in  itself  incomplete,  and  the  second 
takes  up  words  from  it  and  completes  it,  the  parallelism 
has  sometimes  been  said  to  be  climactic. 

This  rhythmic  movement  of  the  thought  is  not  peculiar 
to  the  Hebrews.  It  is  found  in  Babylonian,  Aramaic,  and 
Arabic  poetry,  and  also  in  the  lyrics  of  ancient  Egypt.  As 
to  its  origin,  it  has  been  suggested  by  Duhm  that  the  earliest 
improvised  verses  started  in  responsive  song  among  the 
women,  the  chorus  taking  up,  modifying,  and  supplement- 

30 


of  the  Poets  .  Introduction 

ing  the  thoughts  expressed  by  the  leader.  This  does  not 
seem  improbable.  But,  unfortunately,  we  do  not  know 
whether  the  custom  described  is  as  early  as  our  oldest 
specimens  of  parallelism.  It  is  also  possible  to  think  of 
the  forward  and  backward  movements  of  the  dance.  At 
bottom,  it  is  due  to  the  same  rhythm-producing  tendency 
as  the  foot  in  the  line;  and  there  is  within  the  distich  a 
thesis  and  an  arsis,  as  it  were,  a  part  that  is  not  accentu- 
ated and  a  part  that  has  the  stress. 

4.  The  Strophic  Structure 

The  introduction  by  the  Massorites  of  the  double  point 
(:),  to  mark  the  end  of  the  distich  or  tristich,  has  naturally 
given  a  somewhat  exaggerated  importance  to  what  is  gen- 
erally called  the  "verse."  In  a  form  of  poetry  that  de- 
manded the  balancing  of  two  expressions  of  the  same 
thought,  or  of  two  phases  of  the  same  idea,  a  monostich 
of  two,  three,  or  four  beats  is  scarcely  permissible.  The 
rule  is  the  distich.  To  express  the  consciousness  of  both 
the  separateness  of  stichi  and  the  unity  of  the  distich,  and 
also  to  save  parchment,  no  doubt,  poetic  sections  were  so 
written  that  the  whole  distich  was  on  the  same  line,  but  a 
space  left  between  the  stichi.  This  led  Josephus  to  speak 
of  pentameters  and  hexameters,  and  Grimme  to  look  upon 
the  "verse"  as  a  strophe.  In  didactic  poetry  there  often 
seems  to  be  no  attempt  at  strophic  structure;   the  distich 

31 


Introduction  The  Messages 

suffices.  In  lyrics  and  in  prophetic  oracles  it  was  natural 
to  go  beyond  the  two  lines.  The  most  common  type  of 
strophe  is  the  tetrastich,  used  almost  exclusively  in  Job, 
Canticles,  and  the  songs  considered  in  this  volume.  Tris- 
tichs  are  found  in  later  additions.  Strophes  of  six,  eight, 
and  even  twelve  lines  are  unmistakably  indicated  by 
refrains. 


5.  Assonance,  Alliteration,  and  Rhyme 

In  reading  some  of  the  poems,  one  is  impressed  by  the 
solemn  succession  of  the  same  vowel  sounds  throughout 
the  line  or  distich,  or  its  reappearance  in  the  same  place  in 
the  various  parts  of  a  strophe.  This  can  scarcely  have 
been  unintentional.  It  is  an  assonance  adopted  for  effect, 
and  often  more  pleasing  and  less  artificial  than  that  of 
Spanish  poetry.  Similarly,  there  is  often  a  clearly  pur- 
posed succession  of  words-  beginning  with  the  same  con- 
sonant. As  one  consonant  does  not  follow  another,  as 
a  rule,  without  the  intervention  of  a  vowel  at  the  beginning 
of  a  syllable,  this  alliteration  is  less  rich  than  that  in  Old 
Scandinavian  and  German  poetry.  Occasionally,  rhyme 
is  used  at  the  end  of  the  stichi.  It  rarely  adds  anything  to 
the  beauty  of  the  verse,  and  even  the  poetic  oracles  of  the 
prophets  were  saved  from  the  monotony  of  the  rhymed 
endings  characteristic  of  the  Quran. 


32 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 


IV 

TEXT  AND   TRANSLATION 

I.  The  Hebrew  Text 

It  is  the  first  duty  of  the  interpreter  to  seek  to  recover 
the  original  text.  In  the  case  of  the  poems  dealt  with  in 
this  volume  we  are  fortunate  enough  to  possess  copies  in 
the  Hebrew  language  in  which  they  were  written.  These 
copies  are  indeed  late,  none  being  earlier  than  the  ninth 
century  of  our  era.  Thus  the  Song  of  Deborah  was  prob- 
ably composed  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  our 
oldest  extant  Hebrew  copy  was  made.  But  there  is  good 
reason  to  suppose  that  no  important  changes  were  made 
in  the  consonantal  text  from  the  second  century  A.  D.  to 
the  time  of  our  first  codices.  It  is  true  that  before  the 
former  epoch  the  text  often  suffered  greatly  in  transmission, 
as  the  ancient  versions  show,  and  those  songs  that  for  a 
long  time  passed  from  lip  to  lip  before  they  were  written 
down  no  doubt  were  subject  to  many  alterations.  Yet  it 
must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  metrical  form  was  an  efficient 
means  of  preserving  the  integrity  of  the  text,  while  rhapso- 
dists  chanted  or  recited  the  songs.  It  may  well  be  that 
fewer  errors  are  due  to  the  failing  memory  or  intentional 
variations  of  reciters  than  to  the  ignorance  or  carelessness 
of  copyists  in  the  days  preceding  the  professional  scribes, 

33 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Hence  our  present  text  may  come  as  near  to  the  original 
in  the  earlier  lyrics  as  in  Job  and  Canticles.  The  Hebrew 
text  preserved  by  the  Samaritans  is,  with  all  its  numerous 
variants,  a  testimony,  so  far  as  the  songs  inserted  in  the 
Pentateuch  are  concerned,  to  the  substantial  identity  of 
at  least  one  recension  written  in  the  old  Semitic  script,  pos- 
sibly two  or  three  centuries  before  our  era,  and  the  text 
established  by  the  later  scribes. 

Systems  of  punctuation  to  indicate  the  vowels  were  in- 
troduced in  the  seventh  century  A.  D.  They  represent  the 
then  customary  pronunciation,  but  also  the  tradition  of  the 
past  centuries  during  which  the  Aramaic  had  indeed  been 
the  vernacular  but  the  Hebrew,  far  from  being  a  dead 
language,  had  been  constantly  heard  in  the  synagogues 
and  used  by  the  learned.  It  would,  no  doubt,  be  hazard- 
ous to  assume  that  David  pronounced  his  elegy  exactly  in 
the  manner  the  Massorah  prescribes.  Dialectical  differ- 
ences and  changes  from  age  to  age  cannot  be  doubted. 
Of  special  importance  for  the  poetic  sections  is  the  ques- 
tion whether  words  having  only  one  vowel,  after  the  orig- 
inal case-endings  had  been  dropped,  were  in  early  times 
and  everywhere  provided  with  a  helping  vowel,  whether 
"earth"  was  called  ^ars  or  ^eres.  A  fragment  of  Origen's 
Hexapla  in  which  the  Hebrew  text  is  transliterated  gives 
us  ars,  and  not  eres,  as  the  Massoretic  recension.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  transliteration  in  the  earliest  Greek  version 
shows  that  these  so-called  segholates  were  pronounced 
34 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

with  two  vowels.  There  may  have  been  differences  of 
tradition  in  regard  to  this,  or  dialectical  differences  in 
earlier  times.  The  dropping  of  the  case-endings  in  mod- 
ern Arabic  has  also  frequently  led  to  the  introduction  of  a 
helping  vowel,  sometimes  only  a  murmuring  sound,  some- 
times distinctly  emphasized.  In  reading  Hebrew  poetry, 
we  are  probably  justified  in  following  as  a  rule  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Massorites,  disregarding  it  only  when  the 
metre  manifestly  demands  it.  The  system  of  accents  in- 
troduced in  the  eighth  century  A.  D.  to  aid  in  cantillation 
is  not  without  value,  but  can  scarcely  be  of  high  age.  Job, 
like  the  Psalter  and  Proverbs,  has  a  particularly  elaborate 
system  of  accentuation.  Yet  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  of 
Job  as  having  been  actually  chanted  in  the  synagogue. 
The  Hebrew  text,  with  its  apparatus  of  notes,  vowel-signs, 
and  accents,  is  invaluable.  Considering  all  the  circum- 
stances, we  possess  these  poems  in  a  remarkably  fine  state 
of  preservation. 

2.  The  Ancient  Versions 

Some  of  the  early  translations  of  the  Bible  are  also  of  the 
utmost  value  in  assisting  us  to  determine  what,  in  doubtful 
cases,  the  original  text  was.  Of  these  the  first  Greek  ver- 
sion is,  beyond  comparison,  the  most  important.  What 
this  version  was  is  indeed  at  times  as  difficult  to  discover 
as  the  original  it  attempted  to  render.     But  the  codices, 

35 


Introduction  The  Messages 

so  far  as  they  are  available,  such  daughter-versions  as  the 
Old  Latin,  the  Coptic,  the  Syriac,  and  the  Ethiopic,  and 
the  quotations  in  patristic  writers,  allow  us  at  least  to  ap- 
proach it.  In  the  case  of  some  books  the  earliest  version 
must  apparently  be  separated  from  a  later  recension,  gen- 
erally, though  not  always,  longer,  found  in  certain  manu- 
scripts, translations,  and  quotations.  Thus  there  are  two 
recensions  of  Job:  one  earlier  and  much  shorter,  and 
another,  of  later  origin,  made  to  conform  to  the  enlarged 
Hebrew  text;  and  likewise  two  of  Judges.  The  original 
Syriac  version  seems  to  have  been  retouched  in  most  books 
by  later  hands  familiar  with  the  Greek  Bible.  Occasionally, 
though  rarely,  the  Targums  are  of  value  in  establishing  the 
text.  Jerome,  prince  of  translators,  followed  substantially 
the  same  consonantal  text  that  we  have.  He  knew  that 
rhythm  and  metre  characterized  Hebrew  poetry,  but  made 
no  effort  to  give  a  poetic  form  to  his  Latin  rendering.  It 
is  a  delicate  task  to  recover  from  a  translation  the  original 
word  or  phrase.  But  in  numerous  instances  it  has  been 
done  in  such  a  manner  as  to  carry  conviction.  Conjectural 
emendations  are  justifiable  when  demanded  by  the  versions, 
the  metre,  or  the  sense.  Now  and  then  a  line  has  obviously 
fallen  out;  more  frequently  additions  have  been  made. 
Occasionally  the  ancient  witnesses  testify  that  there  has 
been  a  transposition  of  lines;  but  it  is  not  safe  to  assume 
such  transpositions  on  a  large  scale.  A  new  text  should 
pot  be  created  on  the  plea  of  restoring  the  old.     The 

36 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

farther  afield  the  critic  travels  from  textual  tradition,  the 
less  convincing  are  his  operations. 


3.  The  Metrical  Translation 

No  interpretation  is  more  valuable  than  a  faithful  trans- 
lation. Poetry  should  be  so  rendered  as  to  give  the  im- 
pression of  poetry,  conveying  not  only  the  thought  but  some- 
thing of  the  form  that  characterizes  it.  The  translator 
must  reproduce  with  accuracy  the  thought,  and  at  the  same 
time  force  his  expressions  into  the  rhythmic  swing  and 
metre  of  the  original .  Adherence  to  the  Hebrew  parallelism 
will  not  permit  him  to  continue  through  distich  and  tetra- 
stich the  thought,  or  vary  the  order  of  its  constituent  ele- 
ments. But  if  he  is  convinced  that  the  author  before  him 
has  put  himself  under  these  restraints,  and  feels  that  by  so 
doing  he  has  added  greatly  to  the  impressiveness  and  beauty 
of  his  message,  the  conscientious  and  appreciative  inter- 
preter cannot  but  regard  it  as  his  duty  and  privilege  to 
follow  the  example  set.  There  is  a  certain  aroma  that 
invariably  evaporates,  a  certain  indescribable  charm  that 
is  of  necessity  lost,  in  any  translation.  But  the  effort  is 
worth  the  while,  if  it  gives  those  who  cannot  read  the 
Hebrew  text,  or  never  have  realized  its  peculiar  poetic 
structure  when  reading  it,  a  truer  estimate  of  its  worth. 

There  are  passages  of  less  distinctive  poetic  merit  where 
the  translator  may  well  be  justified  in  not  attempting  to 

i1 


Introduction  The  Messages 

render  a  metrical  translation.  In  such  cases,  a  carefully 
made  paraphrase  is  often  of  very  great  value.  The  con- 
tents of  many  a  psalm  has  been  admirably  brought  out  in 
this  way  in  Vol.  V  of  this  series.  The  same  method  is 
pursued  here  in  the  case  of  some  secondary  parts  of  the 
Book  of  Job. 


THE  POETS  OF  ISRAEL 

The  childhood  of  the  race,  like  the  childhood  of  the 
individual,  is  interested  in  the  story  and  the  song,  not  in 
the  person  who  first  told  the  tale  or  made  the  poem. 
Concern  about  the  poet's  name  and  the  events  of  his  life 
is  a  sign  of  intellectual  puberty.  Curiosity  and  pride  find 
satisfaction  in  the  details  of  his  career.  In  course  of  time, 
critical  judgment  learns  to  sift  the  tradition.  Names  and 
circumstances  duly  vouched  for  are  accepted  and  invested 
with  a  universal  human  interest,  but  there  is  a  willingness 
to  forego  the  pleasures  of  a  knowledge  resting  on  founda- 
tions not  sufficiently  secure.  Yet  the  story  and  the  song 
no  longer  can  absorb  the  whole  attention  as  in  earlier  days. 
It  is  the  author  himself  that  men  again  strain  their  eyes  to 
behold.  His  name,  his  looks,  his  family  connections,  his 
deeds,  experiences,  and  social  relations  may  be  unknown, 
and  yet  his  personality  stands  forth  clearly  portrayed  in  his 

38 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

work,  the  subtlest  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  revealed, 
the  spirit's  inner  life  unfolded. 

Unless  there  was  a  special  historic  reason  for  remember- 
ing the  singer,  ancient  Israel  was  as  unconcerned  as  any 
other  people  about  the  writers  of  its  songs.  "Israel  sang" 
the  Song  of  the  Taking  of  Beer;  "the  rhapsodists  re- 
cited" the  Song  of  the  Capture  of  Heshbon;  the  Song  of  the 
Crossing  of  Arnon  "was  recorded  in  the  Book  of  Wars." 
This  was  quite  sufficient.  It  is  probable  that  "Israel 
sang"  the  songs  of  the  tribes  brought  together  in  Gen.  49 
before  they  were  put  upon  the  lips  of  the  dying  Jacob. 
When  the  reputation  of  David  and  Solomon  caused  men 
to  ascribe  to  these  kings  large  numbers  of  hymns  and 
songs,  no  care  was  taken  to  find  out  who  the  real  authors 
were.  Their  names  were  forgotten,  if  they  ever  were  known. 
We  ask  in  vain  about  the  poet  who,  gazing  at  the  bright 
Syrian  sky,  was  so  impressed  by  the  contrast  between  the 
glory  of  the  eternal  stars  and  the  insignificance  and  weak- 
ness of  the  son  of  man  (Ps.  8),  the  tender  heart  that  voiced 
its  contentment  and  peace  in  the  immortal  song:  "Yahwe 
is  my  shepherd,  I  shall  not  want"  (Ps.  23),  or  the  deeply 
religious  soul  that  sang:  "What  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee  ? 
and  when  I  have  thee,  O  Yahwe,  I  care  not  for  heaven  or 
earth"  (Ps.  73).  We  shall  never  know  who  the  poet  was 
that  wrote  the  exquisite  lyrics  of  Canticles.  The  interest 
centred  on  the  reputed  authors,  and  scribes  looked  with 
eagerness  for  the  occasions  in  the  life  of  David  when  the 

39 


Introduction  The  Messages 

hymns  most  probably  originated,  and  the  time  in  Solomon's 
career  when  he  was  most  likely  to  have  sung  the  Song  of 
Songs.  So  little  concerned  was  his  people  about  the  poet 
by  the  grace  of  God,  who  produced  that  marvellous  work, 
the  Book  of  Job,  that  not  until  centuries  had  passed  does 
there  seem  to  have  been  even  an  attempt  to  determine  the 
authorship. 

Nevertheless,  we  possess  the  names  of  some  of  the  poets 
in  Israel  and  Judah.  It  is  possible  that  we  still  know  by 
name  one  of  the  singers  looming  up  in  the  gray  dawn  of 
Hebrew  history.  No  convincing  argument  has  been  ad- 
duced against  the  authorship  by  Deborah  of  the  triumphal 
ode  in  Judges  5.  In  Judges  4  Deborah  is  said  to  be  a  proph- 
etess. Her  husband's  name  is  given  as  Lappidoth.  The 
author  of  the  prose  account  states  that  her  home  was  between 
Bethel  and  Ramah.  If  this  is  correct,  she  may  have  moved 
to  this  place  from  Issachar,  for  she  certainly  belonged  to 
this  tribe.  But  there  may  be  a  confusion  with  Deborah, 
Rebekah's  nurse.  The  seeress  summoned  Barak  to  take 
the  lead  against  Sisera.  She  was  the  soul  of  the  move- 
ment. Her  interest,  even  in  the  song,  is  chiefly  in  the 
marshalling  of  the  clans  to  the  fight,  and  in  the  results. 
She  probably  lived  about  1150  B.  C. 

The  most  famous,  though  not  the  greatest,  poet  in  Israel 

was  David,  son  of  Jesse,  king  of  Judah  in  Hebron  (ca. 

1033-1023  B.  C),  and  of  Judah  and  Israel  in  Jerusalem  (ca. 

1023-993  B.  C).    Though  only  two  of  his  poems  have  been 

40 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

preserved,  one  of  these  is  of  such  superior  workmanship 
that  it  amply  justifies  his  fame.  He  was  born  about  1060 
B.  C,  according  to  tradition  in  Bethlehem.  In  his  youth 
he  came  to  the  court  of  King  Saul  of  Benjamin,  as  a  warrior 
and  a  harp  player,  and  in  course  of  time  won  the  friendship 
of  the  king's  son,  Jonathan,  and  the  hand  of  the  king's 
daughter,  Michal.  His  popularity  as  the  king's  armor- 
bearer  and  son-in-law  caused  Saul  to  suspect  him  of 
designs  upon  his  crown,  and  he  was  obliged  to  flee  from 
Gibeah.  As  the  chief  of  a  band  of  outlaws,  he  occupied 
the  forts  of  Adullam  and  Keilah,  became  the  head  of 
Caleb  by  the  death  of  Nabal  and  his  marriage  with  Abigail, 
but  had  to  take  service  with  the  Philistine  king,  Achish  of 
Gath,  and  received  from  him  Ziklag.  The  battle  of  Gil- 
boa  wrung  from  his  heart  and  lips  the  lament  over  Saul 
and  Jonathan,  a  noble  monument  of  his  art  and  of  his 
generous  nature.  He  welded  the  various  ethnic  elements 
of  the  south  country  together  into  a  kingdom  of  Judah, 
under  Philistine  suzerainty,  captured  Jerusalem,  came 
into  possession  of  Israel  through  the  death  of  Ishbaal,  made 
himself  independent  of  the  Philistines,  conquered  Moab, 
Ammon,  and  Edom,  quelled  the  insurrections  of  Absa- 
lom and  Sheba,  and  left  a  respectable  kingdom  to  his  son 
Solomon.  David  was  not  free  from  sensuality  and  cruelty, 
and  committed  an  outrageous  crime  against  Uriah  the 
Hittite.  But  he  was  brave,  generous,  tender-hearted,  and 
pious,  though  his  songs  are  of  a  purely  secular  character. 
41 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Such  men  as  Amos  and  Hosea,  Isaiah  and  Micah,  Zeph- 
aniah,  Jeremiah,  and  the  great  seer  of  the  exile  (Isa.  40-48) 
were  poets  as  well  as  prophets.  The  circumstances  of 
their  lives  are  to  some  extent  known,  and  have  been  de- 
scribed in  Vol.  I  of  this  series.  As  in  the  case  of  Deborah, 
the  mantic  and  the  poetic  inspiration  appeared  together. 
The  visions  seen  in  the  trance  still  stood  before  the  waking 
eye,  the  voices  heard  in  the  ecstatic  state  still  rang  in  the 
soul,  the  exaltation  of  feeling,  the  sense  of  being  possessed 
gave  a  rhythmic  movement  to  thought  and  speech,  forced 
the  words  into  the  measured  steps  of  poetry,  while  the 
alert  intelligence  searched  the  political  horizon  for  signs  of 
divine  action,  and  the  quickened  conscience  discerned  the 
deep-lying  causes  in  the  moral  condition  of  the  people. 
What  is  recorded  by  Hosea  of  his  own  life  is  particularly 
instructive  in  showing  how  a  common  experience  was 
sometimes  transmuted  into  oracles  of  great  beauty  and  far- 
reaching  significance.  There  was  many  a  man,  no  doubt, 
in  Israel  who  fell  in  love  with  a  woman  of  the  character  of 
Gomer,  Diblaim's  daughter,  a  priestess  attached  to  some 
temple,  in  all  probability.  Hosea  may  have  been  the  only 
one  to  read  in  the  beatings  of  his  lacerated  heart  divine 
oracles  and  utter  them  with  a  poet's  voice.  It  is  worth 
something  to  be  able  to  look  into  the  home  of  an  Isaiah,  to 
see  his  wife,  the  prophetess,  and  his  children  with  the 
strange  and  thought-provoking  names,  to  watch  him  as  he 
goes  into  the  temple  and  falls  into  a  trance,  or  runs  half- 
42 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

naked  through  the  city  streets,  or  stands  on  a  corner  sing- 
ing a  popular  love-song  whose  mirth  dies  away  to  give  place 
for  the  solemn  chant  of  doom,  or  cuts  in  a  block  of  stone 
the  large  letters  of  a  prophetic  name  to  be  a  testimony 
on  the  day  of  fulfilment.  What  we  know  of  Jeremiah's 
lonely  life,  the  cruel  treatment  he  received,  the  never-ending 
persecutions,  his  unflinching  courage,  and  his  unwavering 
fidelity  to  what  he  deemed  the  truth,  helps  us  to  enter  more 
intelligently  and  sympathetically  into  the  world  of  thought 
his  inspired  lines  reveal. 

But  even  when  the  name  is  unknown,  and  the  time  can 
only  be  approximately  determined,  it  is  possible  to  become 
so  intimately  acquainted  with  the  poet  through  his  work 
that  the  statistics  are  scarcely  missed.  In  their  original 
form  the  oracles  ascribed  to  Balaam  in  Num.  23-24  seem 
to  come  from  the  reign  of  Solomon  (ca.  993-953  B.  C). 
Pseudo  Balaam  is  a  sympathetic  figure.  It  was  a  genial 
idea  to  make  King  Balak  of  Moab  send  for  a  seer  to  curse 
Israel,  to  transform  Balak's  contemporary  King  Belah  or 
Balaam  ben  Beor  of  Edom  into  a  prophet,  and  to  put 
blessings  instead  of  curses  upon  his  lips.  What  a  sense 
the  poet  has  of  the  high  destiny  in  store  for  his  people! 
With  what  pride  he  must  have  looked  upon  the  achieve- 
ments of  David  and  of  Solomon!  How  splendid  is  his 
patriotism!  He  counts  the  man  happy  who  is  permitted  to 
die  in  Israel,  a  member  of  a  just  and  victorious  nation. 
He  sees  with  genuine  poetic  imagination  the  glory  of  his 
native  land. 

43 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Nameless,  too,  yet  better  known  than  any  of  the  others, 
is  the  greatest  of  all  the  poets  of  Israel,  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Job.  No  cities  vie  with  one  another  for  the  honor 
of  having  given  him  birth,  no  record  tells  whose  son  he 
was,  or  if  he  had  a  child,  no  ray  of  light  illumines  any  part 
of  his  career,  no  monument  marks  his  final  resting-place. 
We  may  hesitatingly  suggest  that  he  was  a  native  of 
Judaea,  had  travelled  widely,  possibly  in  the  desert  and  in 
Egypt,  was  a  scholar  and  a  man  of  distinction,  lived  in  the 
fourth  or  beginning  of  the  third  century,  had  read  exten- 
sively as  well  as  thought  deeply,  and  was  not  uninfluenced 
by  foreign  ideas  that  came  pouring  in  when  men  no  longer 
sat  undisturbed  in  the  land,  since  the  stranger  had  settled 
among  them;  but  all  this  is  only  more  or  less  plausible  con- 
jecture. As  a  compensation  for  this  ignorance,  his  inner 
life  is  revealed  to  us  most  clearly.  The  light  is  almost 
dazzling  at  times.  With  that  passionate  frankness  char- 
acteristic of  some  great  natures,  he  tears  out  his  very  heart 
and  lays  it  bare  to  us,  he  opens  his  mind  and  lets  us  look 
into  its  deepest  recesses.  We  do  not  know  what  happened 
to  him  on  any  day  of  his  life;  we  know  with  painful  accu- 
racy what  questions  agitated  his  mind,  what  grave  doubts 
rose  within  his  soul,  what  dark  misgivings  caused  his 
spirit's  anguish,  what  sorrow  placed  its  heavy  burden  on 
his  heart.  We  no  longer  see  the  old  man,  stricken  with 
leprosy,  sitting  on  his  heap  of  ashes,  covered  with  dust  and 
loathsome  ulcers.  We  no  longer  hear  the  sages  utter  their 
discourses,  advance  their  arguments,  present  their  charges, 
44 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

arrange  their  answers  in  pleasing  and  impressive  form. 
What  rivets  our  attention  is  the  poet  himself,  this  human 
soul  we  understand  so  well,  this  bold,  intrepid  seeker  after 
truth,  this  fearless  critic  of  traditional  views,  this  eloquent 
pleader  for  new  vistas,  this  generous,  resourceful  nature, 
so  ready  to  bestow  equal  care  on  the  elaboration  of  the 
ideas  he  must  needs  reject  as  on  those  with  which  he 
sympathizes.  His  insight  is  as  striking  as  his  style,  his 
pathos  as  marvellous  as  his  reasoning,  his  religious  fervor 
as  manifest  as  his  defiant  radicalism.  He  often  bursts 
upon  a  modern  reader  like  a  sudden  revelation,  as  does 
Lucretius,  and  always  holds  him  firmly.  Once  he  is 
known,  he  never  ceases  to  be  a  vital  force  in  any 
life. 

Entirely  different  is  the  poet  to  whom  we  owe  the  char- 
acteristic parts  of  Canticles.  He,  too,  is  known  to  us  only 
through  his  work;  but  this  work  breathes  another  atmos- 
phere. He  is  not  a  philosopher,  burdened  with  the  mighty 
problems  of  existence.  He  is  a  singer  whose  song  has  only 
one  perennial  subject,  and  whose  heart  is  moved  by  only 
one  great  passion.  How  the  world  fares,  why  the  wicked 
flourish,  what  becomes  of  man  when  he  dies,  what  is  the 
solution  of  the  riddle  of  the  universe,  these  things  do  not 
concern  him.  He  has  tasted  of  the  cup  of  love,  and  drank 
forgetfulness  of  the  world's  troubles.  Again  and  again  he 
tunes  his  lyre,  but  it  is  ever  the  same  music.  He  sings  of 
love;  all  else  means  nothing  to  him.  It  is  not  the  mighty 
love  that  draws  together  kindred  souls,  deep  calling  unto 

45 


Introduction  The  Messages 

deep,  the  overflowing  spiritual  experience  uniting  in  a 
common  stream.  But  it  is  the  play  of  elemental  forces  in 
man's  nature,  the  attraction  of  the  human  atoms,  the  never- 
ceasing  work  that  weaves  the  web  of  life  in  the  loom  of 
time.  Because  love  sings  in  his  heart  as  well  as  in  his 
canticles,  he  is  in  touch  with  nature.  He  is  almost  a 
modern  in  his  feeling  for  the  things  about  him,  his  sense 
of  beauty.  There  is  a  certain  inimitable  delicacy  in  his 
treatment  of  many  a  theme.  He  is  able  to  enter  into  the 
feminine  mind  and  shows  his  appreciation  of  its  qualities 
by  allowing  it  to  reveal  itself.  In  monologue  or  dialogue, 
he  never  succeeds  so  well  as  when  he  puts  upon  the  lips  of 
woman  sweet  words  confessing  love  of  man.  He  very 
rarely  offends  our  tastes;  he  almost  invariably  charms  and 
pleases.  It  is  possible  that  he  lived  in  the  East  Jordan 
country  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  before  our 
era.     But  of  this  we  cannot  be  sure. 

The  poet  who  sang  the  Song  of  Youth  and  Age  (Eccles. 
12)  may  not  have  hid  himself  purposely  under  a  Solomonic 
guise,  if  it  is  a  quotation  or  a  later  insertion  in  the  book. 
Ecclesiastes  himself  would  probably  have  looked  upon  the 
attempt  to  perpetuate  his  name  in  connection  with  his 
serious  work  as  "a  chasing  after  wind,"  a  "vanity  of 
vanities."  If  he  quoted  this  bit  of  exquisite  poetry  to 
adorn  his  prose,  he  may  not  have  known  or  cared  who 
wrote  it;  if  it  was  added  at  a  later  time,  the  authorship 
was  probably  unknown.  But  there  is  Wisdom  as  well  as 
pathos  in  the  song,  and  the  singer  is  entitled  to  our  gratitude. 
46 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

VI 

THE  ETHICAL  VALUE  OF  THE  POEMS 

From  the  view-point  of  ethics,  the  importance  of  a  poetic 
production  may  consist  in  the  fidelity  with  which  it  reflects 
a  moral  sentiment  of  intrinsic  or  potential  worth,  or  in  the 
ideal  rising  above  the  ordinary  level  which  it  suggests. 
Whether  of  one  kind  or  another,  it  is  right  to  set  it  off,  in 
contrast  and  comparison,  against  what  appears  as  a  higher 
ideal;  but  it  is  also  a  duty  to  judge  it  according  to  the 
standards  of  its  own  age  and  in  its  relation  to  the  growing 
consciousness  of  right  and  wrong.  If  a  feeling,  word,  or 
deed  is  considered  proper  and  laudable,  and  is  held  up  to 
admiring  contemplation  and  approval,  though  it  cannot 
stand  before  the  bar  of  an  enlightened  conscience,  this  can 
have  only  a  deteriorating  effect  upon  morals.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  no  perception  of  relative  values,  no 
recognition  of  a  righteousness  that  excels  in  its  own  en- 
vironment, while  falling  below  the  demands  of  a  more  ad- 
vanced age,  no  appreciation  of  the  gradual  growth  of 
morality,  injustice  is  done  to  the  past,  the  true  perspective 
is  lost,  the  ethical  sense  is  blunted. 

Hebrew  poetry  has  suffered  from  both  of  these  aberra- 
tions of  judgment.  Sentiments  no  longer  justifiable  on 
any  ground  have  been  openly  defended,  or  their  propriety 

47 


Introduction  The  Messages 

has  been  tacitly  assumed.  Deeds  that  a  more  sensitive 
conscience  must  condemn  have  been  publicly  praised  or 
solemnly  recounted  without  the  slightest  word  of  protest. 
Relapses  into  barbarous  modes  of  thought  and  feeling 
have  been  justified  by  their  harmony  with  those  set  up  as 
standards.  Or  the  conceived  defects  have  been  eagerly 
sought  out,  paraded  in  disgrace  before  the  eyes  of  men, 
jeered  at  as  conquered  enemies  dragged  in  chains  behind 
the  triumphal  chariot  of  reason,  made  the  excuse  for  throw- 
ing overboard  the  priceless  spiritual  treasures  of  a  highly 
gifted  people.  Only  by  a  cultivated  historic  sense  and  an 
enlightened,  moral  judgment  is  it  possible  to  steer  a  safe 
course  between  the  Scylla  of  unthinking  approbation  and 
the  Charybdis  of  unqualified  rejection. 

If  the  first  of  the  lyrics  inserted  in  Genesis,  the  Song  of 
Lamech  (Gen.  4  :  23,  24),  is  considered,  the  fact  that  it 
has  a  distinct  ethical  purpose  is  at  once  apparent.  It 
seeks  to  show  how  much  higher  the  respect  for  life,  how 
much  keener  the  sense  of  honor  was  in  one  tribe  than  in 
another.  The  Kenites  are  satisfied  with  taking  seven  lives 
for  one  of  their  tribe  that  is  killed;  the  Lamechites  set  a 
greater  value  upon  those  of  their  own  blood.  They  exact 
a  life  for  a  mere  bruise,  and  take  seventy-seven  lives  before 
they  can  regard  the  slaying  of  one  of  their  men  as  avenged. 
This  is  the  law  of  the  desert,  the  crude  justice  of  the  nomad. 
Modern  sensibilities  are  shocked  by  this  thirst  for  blood. 
The  implied  assumption  of  inequality  seems  to  betoken  an 
48 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

enormous  vanity,  the  exaggerated  self-importance  appears 
ludicrous.  Civilization  has  travelled  so  far  since  the  days 
of  universally  recognized  fist-right,  men  are  so  willing  to 
leave  the  punishment  of  crime  to  society,  so  loath  to  shed 
the  blood  of  any  man,  so  doubtful  as  to  the  value  of  capital 
punishment,  so  mollified  by  the  spirit  of  the  gentle  Naza- 
rene  who  would  abolish  the  fundamental  principle  of  puni- 
tive justice,  the  law  of  retaliation,  that  it  is  difficult  to  ap- 
preciate the  serious  sentiment  of  the  song,  to  take  it  as 
anything  else  than  an  empty  boast,  a  playful  threat,  a 
cruel  jest.  Yet  on  further  reflection  it  must  be  seen  how 
necessary  to  the  development  of  well-ordered  social  condi- 
tions the  forcible  suppression  of  crimes  of  violence  has  been, 
how  indispensable  more  rigorous  measures,  more  severe 
reprisals  were  in  the  nomadic  state,  with  its  tribal  organiza- 
tion, its  scanty  resources,  and  its  constant  dangers. 

To  the  author  of  the  Curse  and  Blessings  of  Noah  (Gen. 
9  :  25-27)  the  enslavement  of  the  Canaanites  seemed  a 
most  desirable  thing.  He  was  willing,  at  least  temporarily, 
to  share  the  land  with  the  other  invader,  probably  the 
Philistine  from  Crete;  but  the  Canaanite  must  be  reduced 
to  slavery.  Let  the  occupants  of  the  soil  be  driven  out  of 
their  possessions,  forced  into  servitude,  by  their  kinsmen, 
the  Hebrews,  or  by  the  Philistines.  Let  the  former  lords 
be  slaves.  The  singer  gives  no  reason  for  his  fierce  im- 
precation. The  idea  that  the  Canaanites  deserved  their 
fate,  because  of  their  shamelessness  in  sexual  matters,  is  an 

49 


Introduction  The  Messages 

apologetic  after-thought  introduced  in  the  prose  story  but 
foreign  to  the  poet  himself.  They  were  in  the  way;  they 
defended  their  homes;  they  were  powerful,  rich,  and  cun- 
ning. That  was  crime  enough.  We  look  with  horror 
upon  chattel  slavery,  condemn  all  wars  of  conquest,  and 
detest  as  tyranny  the  exploitation  of  a  subjugated  people. 
Yet  we  have  not  left  these  things  so  far  behind  that  we  can 
no  longer  understand,  or  have  the  right  to  look  with  scorn 
upon,  men  who,  lashed  by  necessity  or  lured  by  a  sense  of 
manifest  destiny,  rushed  in  where  opportunity  presented 
itself,  fought  for  the  prize  of  victory,  and  made  slaves  of 
those  they  captured. 

The  Song  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  (Gen.  ii  :  3,  4,  7)  re- 
veals a  melancholy  consciousness  of  the  estrangement 
between  nations  caused  by  the  diversity  of  languages,  and 
seeks  a  cause  of  this  evil  in  the  heaven-scaling  arrogance 
of  man  and  the  incalculable  strength  of  a  united  human 
race,  endangering  the  power  of  the  gods.  Even  a  vastly 
different  outlook  upon  life  that  takes  no  note  of  jealous  gods, 
gazes  with  eagerness  into  the  future  for  signs  of  the  poli- 
tical organization  of  mankind,  yet  views  with  complacency 
the  varieties  of  human  speech  which  form  no  real  barriers  to 
union,  cannot  prevent  the  recognition  of  this  poet's  delicate 
moral  feeling. 

In  a  large  number  of  the  poems  the  most  noticeable 
feature  from  an  ethical  stand-point  is  the  patriotic  fervor 
which  they  breathe.  This  is  true  of  the  oracles  concern- 
50 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

ing  Jacob  and  Esau  (Gen.  25,  27),  the  Blessing  of  Jacob 
(Gen.  49  :  2-27),  and  the  songs  of  the  conquest  in  Num. 
21.  But  it  is  especially  marked  in  the  Blessings  of  Balaam 
(Num.  23,  24),  and  the  Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  5). 
There  is  much  that  is  laudable  and  inspiring,  and  little 
that  one  can  take  exception  to,  in  the  enthusiastic  utter- 
ances ascribed  to  Balaam.  His  devotion  to  king  and 
fatherland  is  not  to  be  judged  by  modern  ideals  of  democ- 
racy and  cosmopolitanism.  The  Song  of  Deborah  leaves 
a  different  impression.  With  all  our  admiration  for  her 
wonderful  art,  her  splendid  workmanship,  her  glowing 
style,  her  comprehensive  view  and  great  constructive  power, 
her  quickly  changing  moods,  the  biting  sarcasm  and  the 
gentle  raillery,  the  generous  praise  and  the  bitter  denuncia- 
tion, the  pathos  and  the  exaltation,  we  cannot  help  shudder- 
ing at  the  savage  delight  with  which  she  paints  the  horrible 
details  of  the  slaying  of  Sisera,  the  utter  lack  of  any  sense 
of  shame,  the  manifest  pride  and  satisfaction  caused  by  the 
treacherous  breach  of  hospitality,  the  mean  and  dastardly 
assassination  of  the  enemy  by  Jael's  wife,  and,  more  per- 
haps than  anything  else,  the  refined  cruelty  of  the  closing 
picture  of  Sisera's  mother,  as  terribly  effective  as  it  is  re- 
volting to  our  moral  sense.  Read,  however,  in  the  light, 
of  the  historic  circumstances,  this  triumphal  ode  saddens 
us  less  than  many  a  Te  Deum  sung  in  more  recent 
times. 
Ethically,  one  of  the  most  pleasing  songs  is  David's 

51 


Introduction  The  Messages 

elegy  over  Saul  and  Jonathan  (2  Sam.  i  :  19-27),  The 
nobility  of  sentiment  voiced  in  the  dirge,  beautiful  as  it  is 
in  itself,  is  greatly  enhanced  by  what  is  revealed  of  unex- 
pressed nobility  in  the  singer.  To  David  Saul  may  indeed 
have  appeared  as  one  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit  from 
Yahwe,  making  him  irresponsible  for  his  deeds.  Never- 
theless, he  had  suffered  at  his  hands.  He  had  long  been 
an  outlaw,  and,  what  was  especially  bitter,  forced  by  Saul's 
enmity  away  from  Yahwe's  land  to  worship  other  gods. 
Yet  there  is  not  a  touch  of  resentment  in  the  song.  All  is 
blotted  out  but  the  memory  of  the  king's  greatness  and  the 
grief  over  his  fall.  It  is  this  genuine  and  large-hearted 
generosity  of  feeling  that  constitutes  so  much  of  the  charm 
of  David's  personality  and  gives  such  a  rich  flavor  to  his 
poem.  When  he  praises  the  love  of  Jonathan  as  more 
wonderful  than  woman's  love,  we  are  profoundly  impressed 
with  the  moral  worth  of  so  rare  a  friendship.  Yet  we  feel 
also  that,  with  all  his  wide  and  varied  experience,  his  knowl- 
edge of  what  woman's  love  is  was  exceedingly  scant.  It 
always  lacked  the  crowning  quality,  the  real  fellojvship  of 
soul  with  soul  that  Jonathan's  love  supplied. 

The  great  prophets,  before  the  exile,  in  their  oracles, 
put  the  emphasis  upon  justice,  mercy,  and  humility.  The 
word  which  they  used  for  "justice"  gradually  came  to  be 
used  to  designate  "vindication,"  "justification"  of  his 
people  by  Yahwe,  through  graciously  changing  its  external 
circumstances,  and  finally  put  on  the  meaning  of  "alms- 
52- 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

giving,"  "charity."  Their  plea  for  mercy  was  not  un- 
heeded; care  for  the  poor  and  the  needy  became  a  char- 
acteristic feature  of  Jewish  life.  Most  effective,  however, 
was  their  demand  for  humility  before  Yahwe.  Resigna- 
tion under  the  hand  of  God,  readiness  to  accept  the  evil  as 
well  as  the  good,  modesty  in  word  and  demeanor,  abun- 
dance in  praise,  freedom  from  murmuring  that  might  imply 
censure,  a  devout  and  self -abasing  attitude  before  the  Most 
High,  were  the  signs  that  the  lesson  of  humility  had  been 
learned.  It  had  its  moral  value  and  also  its  decidedly 
injurious  effect.  Manhood  suffered  from  it,  as  the  author 
of  Job  realized. 

The  Psalter  is  impregnated  with  the  moral  sentiments  for 
whose  dominancy  in  the  life  of  Israel  the  pre-exilic  prophets 
are  chiefly  responsible.  One  note  is  almost  entirely  miss- 
ing in  this  hymn-book  which  occasionally  is  heard  in  the 
prophets,  the  appreciation  of  the  value  of  other  nations. 
No  psalmist  ever  rises  to  the  level  of  the  Book  of  Jonah, 
or  the  prophetic  oracles  in  which  a  glorious  future  is  held 
out  for  some  foreign  nations  after  the  period  of  punishment 
shall  have  passed.  Love  of  enemies  is  nowhere  enjoined 
in  the  Psalter,  nor  is  it  ever  expected  that  even  the  pious 
shall  forgive  his  enemies.  In  spite  of  all  allowances  that 
should  be  duly  made,  a  horror  creeps  over  us  as  we  hear 
one  of  these  worshippers  in  the  divine  presence,  express  his 
conviction  that  a  man  would  be  blessed  who  could  have 
the  privilege  of  dashing  the  little  innocent  children  in  the 

53 


Introduction  The  Messages 

city  of  Babylon  against  the  stones.  But  while  the  man  who 
cherished  such  a  vile  wish  in  his  heart  could  not  have 
known  a  very  high  type  of  blessedness,  he  might  not,  after 
all,  have  been  so  blood-thirsty  if  a  Babylonian  infant  had 
been  thrown  in  his  way.  Possibly  even  such  outbursts  of 
violent  passion  are  less  damaging  to  the  moral  nature  than 
the  attitude  of  complacent  self-satisfaction,  of  ineradica- 
ble self-righteousness,  that  so  often  comes  to  view  in  these 
hymns. 

The  great  problem  of  the  Book  of  Job  is  not  ethical,  but 
theological.  None  of  the  fundamental  questions  of  moral- 
ity are  discussed.  There  is  no  consideration  of  its  source, 
or  of  its  essential  character,  or  of  its  ultimate  sanctions. 
Nevertheless,  the  book  is  full  of  ethical  thought,  descrip- 
tions of  the  just  and  the  unjust  man,  suggestions  of  the 
ideal.  In  fact,  there  are  passages  in  this  book  which  re- 
veal a  finer  moral  consciousness,  and  higher  principles 
of  conduct,  than  may  be  seen  in  any  other  part  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  Notably  is  this  true  of  the  last  great  speech 
of  Job  (chaps.  29-31).  The  moral  demands  here  laid 
down  are  more  subtle  and  far-reaching  than  those  of  the 
Decalogue.  The  lustful  look,  the  scorn  of  a  slave's  right, 
the  slightest  disregard  for  the  needs  of  others,  the  con- 
fidence in  wealth  or  selfish  enjoyment  of  it,  the  pleasure  in 
the  misfortunes  of  an  enemy,  the  hiding  of  guilt  from  the 
eyes  of  men,  are  condemned.  While  the  author  nowhere 
distinctly  hints  at  the  possibility  of  morality  being  auton- 
54 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

omous,  the  arguments  of  Job  tend  to  make  human  reason 
the  judge  of  what  is  right.  More  clearly,  however,  did  the 
poet  see  that  reason  must  judge  the  facts  which  may  easily 
be  denied  and  misconstrued  in  the  interest  of  a  theory. 
He  unquestionably  sympathizes  more  fully  with  Job's 
denial  than  with  his  friends'  affirmation  of  a  direct  con- 
nection between  moral  conduct  and  external  circumstance, 
making  the  latter  an  invariable  index  to  character.  When 
he  touches  upon  the  idea  of  survival  after  death,  he  never 
connects  with  it  the  thought  of  punishments  or  rewards, 
and  he  evidently  does  not  accept  the  idea  at  all.  Perhaps 
the  strongest  ethical  impression  the  book  leaves  is  that  of 
the  tremendous  value  set  on  righteousness. 

It  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  assign  even  a  high  moral 
significance  to  Canticles,  to  assume,  contrary  to  the  nat- 
ural interpretation  of  the  songs,  that  they  were  written 
for  the  purpose  of  recommending  marriage,  or  celebrating 
married  love,  or  encouraging  young  people  to  become  en- 
gaged. There  is  not  a  word  about  either  marriage  or  be- 
trothal in  any  of  the  canticles.  The  poet  sang  because 
his  heart  was  full,  because  love  prompted  him,  as  uncon- 
,cerned  about  the  lessons  he  might  teach  as  is  the  bird  that 
warbles  in  the  sky.  Whether  it  was  always  the  same 
friend  who  inspired  him,  we  cannot  know.  Whether  he 
was  ever  married,  who  can  tell  ?  He  knew  what  devotion 
to  an  object  tenderly  loved  meant;  he  knew  how  to  depict 
the  never  sated  yearning  of  man's  heart  and  woman's; 

55 


Introduction  The  Messages 

he  knew  how  to  make  men  feel  the  eternal  mystery  of  love, 
the  greatest  moral  force  in  the  world.  That  is  the  ethical 
significance  of  his  work. 

VII 

THEIR   RELIGIOUS   SIGNIFICANCE 

•  Religion  is  devotion  to  the  highest.  Its  outward  ex- 
pressions may  change  from  age  to  age,  and  vary  with  the 
growth  of  ethnic  and  individual  life;  its  essence  remains 
always,  everywhere,  and  in  all  souls  the  same.  No  true 
estimate  of  its  nature  is  possible  as  long  as  the  eye  rests 
solely  on  its  multitudinous  external  manifestations,  the 
altering  creeds  and  cults,  or  even  the  shifting  forms  of 
mystic  fellowship.  Its  inner  life  of  aspiration  for  the  ideal, 
yearning  for  things  that  shall  abide,  wistful  peering  beyond 
the  bounds  of  space  and  time,  adoring  love  of  goodness  and 
a  sense  of  sacredness,  must  be  discerned.  And  in  the  light 
that  shines  from  this  creative  centre  of  energy  and  pro- 
ductivity all  religious  phenomena  should  be  judged.  In 
order  to  be  rightly  valued,  they  must  be  seen,  not  only  in 
themselves,  in  isolation,  but  in  connection  with  the  onward 
movement  that  reveals,  with  ever-increasing  clearness,  the 
real  nature  of  religion. 

It  is  proper  to  inquire  how  the  poetry  of  ancient  Israel 
affected  its  religious  life,  what  kind  of  religious  thought  and 

56 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

feeling  impelled  the  poets  to  sing,  and  what  the  impression 
was  upon  those  who  first  heard  their  songs.  Our  historic 
sense  demands  that  nothing  foreign  to  the  minds  of  the 
authors  should  be  read  into  their  lines,  that  no  later  ideas 
and  sentiments  should  be  allowed  to  color  the  interpreta- 
tion. It  is  our  first  duty  as  interpreters  to  live  ourselves  into 
the  world  in  which  they  lived.  Nevertheless,  it  would  be 
wrong  to  overlook  or  minimize  the  religious  significance 
assigned  to  the  poems  by  generation  after  generation  of 
men  under  the  influence  of  dominant  conceptions  and  prin- 
ciples of  exegesis  which  we  can  no  longer  accept.  It  is  true 
of  many  a  poem  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  that  the  larger  part 
of  its  life-work,  in  shaping  human  character  and  inspiring 
religious  devotion,  has  been  accomplished,  not  by  the 
simple  and  natural  meaning  its  words,  of  necessity,  carry 
to  our  minds,  but  by  an  allegorical  meaning  undreamed 
of  by  the  author  himself  yet  sincerely  enough  imparted. 
In  looking  for  a  permanent  religious  message  within  the 
perishable  outward  form,  the  modern  interpreter  has  to 
be  on  his  guard  against  a  similar  tendency.  He  may  too 
easily  find  what  he  is  seeking.  It  is  his  duty,  however,  to 
bring  to  light  whatever  the  poem  before  him  seems  to  hold 
of  religious  promise  and  potentiality,  insight  and  power. 

While  in  the  deepest  sense  a  poem  that  never  mentions 
anything  else  than  human  relations  or  objects  of  nature 
may  still  be  truly  religious,  it  is  expedient  not  to  attempt  to 
extract  a  distinctively  religious  message  from  the  Song  of 

57 


Introduction  The  Messages 

Lamech,  the  war  songs  in  Num.  21,  the  laments  over 
Saul  and  Jonathan,  and  over  Abner,  and  the  Song  of 
Youth  and  Age  in  Ecclesiastes.  Canticles  must  be  in- 
cluded in  this  group.  But  the  religious  importance  so  long 
attached  to  this  book  calls  for  a  word  of  comment.  From 
no  part  of  the  Bible  has  mysticism  drawn  so  much  nourish- 
ment. Whether  the  love  depicted  was  thought  to  be  that 
of  Yahwe  and  Israel,  Christ  and  the  church,  Christ  and 
the  Virgin  Mary,  or  Christ  and  the  believing  soul,  it  always 
appeared  to  the  mystic  as  the  supreme  expression  of  the 
union  of  the  divine  and  the  human.  Hence  devotional 
language  has  often  become  redolent  with  its  erotic  fragrance, 
and  pious  feeling  steeped  in  its  fervid  imagery.  It  can 
scarcely  be  questioned  that  the  use  of  its  amorous  epithets 
and  descriptions,  even  as  figures  of  speech,  to  indicate  the 
relations  of  the  human  soul  to  the  source  of  all  life  has 
frequently  had  a  tendency  to  produce  morbid  spiritual 
conditions;  yet  it  is  equally  undeniable  that  it  has  often 
added  to  religious  experience  a  depth,  tenderness,  and  del- 
icacy that  it  would  otherwise  have  lacked.  One  cannot 
help  feeling  that  Hosea  who  dared  to  interpret  the  relation  of 
Yahwe  to  Israel  in  the  light  of  his  own  unchanging  love  for 
Gomer,  Diblaim's  daughter,  contributed  at  least  as  much 
to  the  cause  of  true  religion  as  Amos,  the  stern  prophet  of 
doom.  That  the  intimacies  on  earth  that  give  the  deepest 
joy  should  be  thought  fit  symbols  of  the  highest  spiritual 
relations  is,  after  all,  quite  natural.     The  mystic,  however, 

58 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

is  apt  to  disparage  the  earthly  relations,  to  shrink  from 
carnal  love  as  from  an  unholy  thing,  and,  therefore,  to  re- 
pudiate the  literal  interpretation  of  Canticles.  Thus  he 
misses  the  lesson  he  most  needs,  that  in  the  love  of  man  and 
woman  there  is  nothing  common  or  unclean,  that  where 
love  is,  there  earth  and  heaven,  the  human  and  the  divine, 
have  met. 

The  description  of  Yahwe's  appearance  sometimes  con- 
stitutes the  chief  religious  element.  From  his  mountain 
home  in  Edom,  Israel's  God  comes,  attended  by  earth- 
quake and  thunder-storm,  to  the  battle-field  on  Kishon; 
and  his  heavenly  host,  the  stars,  fight  with  him  against 
Sisera,  in  the  Song  of  Deborah  (Judges  5).  From  the 
same  holy  mountain  in  Seir  he  also  arrives  in  the  Bless- 
ing of  Moses  (Deut.  33).  In  the  region  of  Edom  he  ap- 
pears to  the  seer,  Balaam,  and  forces  him  to  bless  Israel 
(Num.  22-24).  To  the  Sea  of  Sedges  he  comes  to  "over- 
throw the  horse  and  his  rider"  in  the  Songs  of  Moses  and 
of  Miriam  (Ex.  15  :  1-18,  21).  The  idea  of  a  sacred 
place  where  a  divinity  especially  manifests  its  presence  has 
been  of  great  value  in  the  development  of  man's  religious 
life.  A  hallowing  of  some  particular  spot  and  some  ex- 
traordinary occurrence  is  the  means  by  which  a  sense  may 
grow  of  the  sacredness  of  all  life  and  its  law-bound  course. 
Of  much  importance  is  the  fact  that  Yahwe  is  free  to  leave 
his  abode  on  Sinai  to  care  for  his  people  far  away.  He  who 
could  thus  protect  his  own  in  early  times  from  Edom's  land, 

59 


Introduction  The  Messages 

would  not  in  later  days  leave  them  fatherless  when  they 
were  scattered  over  the  earth,  but  bring  them  help  and  com- 
fort from  Zion.  If  glorious  things  have  been  spoken  of 
Jerusalem,  such  as  never  have  been  uttered  concerning 
any  other  place  on  earth,  the  very  intensity  of  devotion,  the 
process  of  idealization,  prepared  the  way  for  the  idea  of  the 
divine  omnipresence. 

In  some  of  the  poems  there  is  a  distinct  note  of  loyalty 
to  the  union  of  tribes  because  they  constitute  the  people 
of  Yahwe.  Deborah  praises,  jeers  at,  or  reproves  the  tribes 
according  to  their  response  to  the  summons  in  the  name  of 
Yahwe.  She  fiercely  curses  Meroz,  because  its  people  did 
not  come  to  the  help  of  Yahwe  like  men.  This  patriotism, 
based  on  religious  motives,  comes  to  view  in  the  Blessing 
of  Moses  (Deut.  t,;^),  the  oracles  of  Balaam,  and  many 
hymns  of  the  Psalter.  Just  because  this  uniting  bond  was 
from  the  outset  of  a  religious  nature,  it  was  possible  for  it 
to  survive  the  nation's  fall,  to  incorporate  so  many  foreign 
elements,  to  inspire  a  cosmopolitanism,  more  intense  and 
enduring  than  that  of  the  Stoics.  The  oracles  of  the  proph- 
ets reveal  how  these  true  poets,  carried  on  by  their  convic- 
tion that  the  nation  should  belong  in  faithfulness  and  obe- 
dience to  its  God,  and  their  profound  consciousness  of  his 
surpassing  worth,  proclaimed  in  strident  tones  the  doom 
of  Israel,  the  utter  rejection  by  Yahwe  of  his  recalcitrant 
people.  Thus  the  transcendence  of  the  ideal  was  brought 
about. 

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of  the  Poets  Introduction 

From  a  religious  point  of  view,  none  of  the  other  poems 
rises  to  the  significance  of  the  Book  of  Job,  The  history 
of  the  past  may  seem  to  contradict  this  statement.  For, 
compared  with  the  influence  of  the  Psalter  or  of  Canticles, 
that  of  Job  has  been  very  limited.  Aside  from  a  few  com- 
mentaries, manifesting  no  real  grasp  of  the  thought  or 
sympathy  with  it,  the  book  has  scarcely  left  any  trace 
behind  it  in  Hebrew  literature.  No  great  man  in  Israel 
seems  to  have  been  attracted,  shocked,  or  inspired  by  it. 
No  recorded  utterance  of  his  renders  it  possible  to  deter- 
mine whether  it  was  ever  read  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It 
was  too  grand  and  imposing  to  be  attacked  by  the  scribes. 
It  was  read  with  solemnity  and  inattention  by  synagogue 
and  church.  Eliphaz  and  Bildad,  Zophar  and  Elihu, 
Job  and  Yahwe  all  seemed  to  say  the  same  thing.  So  little 
was  the  nature  of  the  argument  noticed  that,  when  Jerome 
made  Job  speak  hopefully  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh, 
nobody  was  disturbed  by  it.  "Ye  have  heard,"  said  James 
(5  :  11),  "of  the  patience  of  Job,  and  the  end  thereof." 
That  was  all  they  ever  had  really  heard.  The  story  of  the 
heaven -storming  impatience  of  Job,  his  Prometheus-like 
defiance  of  the  divine  tyrant  on  his  throne,  had  never 
reached  their  ears,  or  minds.  The  dialogues  were  avoided, 
or  made  no  impression.  Men  read  them,  if  at  all,  with  a 
veil  hanging  over  their  faces. 

It  is  only  in  recent  times  that  the  greatest  poet  in  Israel 
has  come  into  his  own,  and  the  religious  importance  of  his 
61 


Introduction  The  Messages 

work  has  been  appreciated  as  well  as  his  consummate  art. 
Modern  interpreters  have  observed,  with  ever-growing 
wonder  and  admiration,  his  noble  freedom  and  deep  in- 
sight. His  questions  are  those  we  raise  ourselves.  What 
is  the  seat  of  authority  in  religion?  Eliphaz  answers  by 
referring  to  a  revelation  of  truth  that  comes  by  inspiration  in 
visions  of  the  night;  Bildad  calls  attention  to  the  tradition 
of  the  past,  the  wise  sayings  handed  down  from  generation 
to  generation;  Zophar  appeals  to  the  judgment  of  the  many, 
the  decision  of  the  majority.  Against  this  threefold  ex- 
ternal authority  of  revelation,  tradition,  and  majority,  Job 
protests,  and  makes  his  appeal  to  the  facts  of  life  as  seen 
and  judged  by  himself.  At  bottom  these  are  the  answers 
we  would  give  ourselves.  Radical  as  is  the  difference  be- 
tween Job's  position  and  that  of  his  friends,  there  are  im- 
portant elements  of  truth  embodied  in  the  contentions  on 
both  sides.  It  is  true  that  there  is  a  gradual  unfolding, 
a  progressive  revelation  to  man's  maturing  mind  of  life's 
meaning,  and  that  there  is  a  prophetic  order  drawing  the 
veil  aside,  mediating  between  the  light  of  universal  life 
and  the  ignorant  and  inert  mass  of  men.  Only,  this  is  an 
impartial  revelation  ever  offering  itself  to  the  human  mind, 
and  its  prophets  are  of  every  age,  and  race,  and  nation. 
There  is  a  tradition,  an  accumulation  of  experience  and 
observation,  a  stock  of  knowledge  increasing  through  the 
ages,  presenting  itself  as  a  very  real  help  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  life.  Yet,  the  material  must  be  sifted,  doubt  is  a 
62 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

necessity,  infallibility  is  precluded,  progress  imperative. 
The  truth  rests  most  securely  upon  the  convinced  judgment 
of  the  many,  and  is  most  efficient  when  it  has  become  part 
and  parcel  of  a  people's  consciousness.  But  it  is  never 
found  without  an  alloy;  the  absolute  truth  eludes  our 
grasp;  there  must  be  room  for  the  removers  of  the  alloy, 
the  bearers  of  new  truths.  Humanity,  as  Mazzini  said, 
is  God's  prophet  on  earth.  Closely  and  reverently  should 
the  individual  listen  to  this  mighty  voice. 

But  even  this  voice  can  make  its  appeal  only  to  the 
sovereign  judgment  of  man's  reason.  Here  Job's  position 
is  incontestable.  It  happens  every  day  that  one  man  is  in 
the  right  against  a  world  in  error.  Mankind  never  quite 
makes  up  its  mind,  it  has  a  long  time  to  live,  and  never 
speaks  its  last  word.  Man,  born  of  woman,  is  of  few  days, 
must  take  quick  impressions,  cull  from  the  mass  objects 
of  special  attention,  get  his  answers  to  a  thousand  questions, 
constantly  revise  his  opinions,  yet  shoulder  the  responsi- 
bility and  deliver  his  final  judgment  ere  he  passes  into  the 
silence.  Nevertheless,  it  is  his  duty  to  see  with  his  own 
eyes,  not  to  blink  the  facts,  or  misconstrue  their  manifest 
meaning,  in  the  interest  of  harmony  with  external  author- 
ity, to  settle  every  matter,  in  humility  and  subject  to  revi- 
sion, yet  firmly  and  with  confidence,  before  the  court  of  his 
own  reason. 

Another  question  that  has  through  all  ages  agitated  the 
mind  of  man  is  that  of  sin.     The  fundamental  position 

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Introduction  The  Messages 

maintained  by  the  friends  of  Job  is  that  the  universe  is 
ordered  with  reference  to  human  righteousness  so  that 
health,  wealth,  honor,  and  numerous  progeny  are  tokens 
of  inner  rectitude  approved  by  God;  while  sickness,  poverty, 
disgrace,  and  childlessness  are  signs  of  inner  corruption 
visited  by  God's  anger.  Sin  is  the  determining  factor  in 
the  government  of  the  world.  If  the  lightning  that  strikes 
a  man's  house  does  not  bring  punishment  for  an  overt  act 
of  transgression,  it  may  be  the  penalty  for  a  cherished 
purpose  to  do  wrong,  or  a  preventive  measure  to  check  evil 
tendencies  of  the  soul,  or  a  trial  testing  man's  loyalty  to 
God  and  abhorrence  of  sin.  In  any  case  it  is,  like  every- 
thing that  happens  to  a  man,  closely  connected  with  his 
moral  condition.  Against  this  doctrine  of  retribution,  this 
theory  of  a  perfect  adjustment  of  moral  attitude  and 
physical  condition,  Job  marshals  the  facts  of  experience  in 
vehement  protest.  The  doctrine  is  based  on  a  false  gen- 
eralization. The  theory  is  belied  by  common  observations, 
by  well-authenticated  and  undeniable  occurrences.  The 
forces  of  nature  operate  in  heedlessness  of  moral  qualities, 
overwhelming  the  good  and  the  bad,  preserving  the  just 
and  the  unjust.  Pestilence  and  death  ask  not  whether  a 
man  is  a  sinner.  The  forces  operating  in  society  often 
bring  security  and  coveted  good  to  the  unscrupulous,  self- 
seeking,  shrewd,  and  overreaching,  while  crushing  the  con- 
scientious, modest,  generous,  fair,  and  brave.  Outward 
circumstance  is  not  a  reliable  index  of  character. 
64 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

Again  it  must  be  felt  that  the  whole  truth  is  neither  on 
one  side  nor  on  the  other.  It  was  observation  of  the  facts 
of  life,  and  not  a  theory,  that  first  led  men  to  the  assumption 
that  a  perfect  retribution  is  made  between  the  cradle  and 
the  grave.  The  pragmatism  of  the  historical  books  that 
made  foreign  oppression  and  other  calamities  the  immediate 
results  of  apostasy  from  the  supposed  ancestral  faith,  in- 
dependence and  prosperity  the  direct  consequences  of  a 
return  to  proper  loyalty,  was  ultimately  based  upon  actual 
observations  that  seemed  to  point  to  this  conclusion. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  persistent  disregard  of  the  laws 
of  health,  overindulgence  of  the  appetites,  the  unrestrained 
play  of  the  passions,  and  wrong  relations  between  man  and 
man,  tend  not  only  to  the  deterioration  of  character,  but  to 
disease,  poverty,  sterility,  and  premature  death;  while  a 
proper  cultivation  of  the  moral  qualities  tends  to  strengthen 
the  organism  against  all  hostile  attacks  and  insure  the  gen- 
eral welfare.  In  the  long  run,  unwholesome  social  condi- 
tions and  a  perverse  public  policy  will  unquestionably  ruin 
a  people,  while  righteousness  exalts  a  nation. 

But  the  generalizations  of  the  friends  of  Job  are  at  fault. 
There  are  many  factors  with  which  man's  conduct  has 
nothing  to  do  that  are  left  out  of  consideration.  One  is 
heredity;  another  ignorance  of  nature's  laws,  and  conse- 
quent inadequate  adjustment  to  her  elements  and  forces; 
and  still  another  an  imperfect  social  organization.  How 
far  even  the  greatest  improvement  in  the  inheritance  trans- 

65 


Introduction  The  Messages 

mitted,  in  scientific  knowledge  and  the  power  based  on  it, 
and  in  social  conditions,  would  avail  to  eliminate  all  evils 
not  due  to  moral  obliquity,  is  impossible  to  say.  Decay  and 
dissolution  have  the  appearance  of  being  as  necessarily  in- 
herent in  the  nature  of  things  as  birth  and  growth.  Death 
reigned  in  our  terrestrial  world  millions  of  years  before 
there  was  a  human  being  here  to  weaken,  by  his  errors  of 
ignorance  or  wilful  transgressions,  the  cords  of  life;  and 
in  celestial  space,  solar  systems  are  born,  live  their  allotted 
time,  and  die.  Extended  into  a  principle  of  universal 
application,  the  thesis  of  Eliphaz  and  his  colleagues  is 
absolutely  untenable;  it  is  condemned  by  facts  no  man 
can  honestly  deny. 

To  escape  from  a  position  that  could  no  longer  be  main- 
tained, and  has  indeed  been  abandoned  by  earnest  and 
thoughtful  men  everywhere,  a  refuge  was  sought  by  many 
in  the  conception  of  a  future  life.  The  popular  belief  in  a 
shadowy  existence,  if  such  it  could  be  called,  after  death, 
in  the  subterranean  Sheol,  or  hell  in  the  sense  in  which 
this  word  was  first  used  as  a  designation  of  the  future 
abode  of  all  the  dead,  had  no  bearing  on  this  great  prob- 
lem, since  it  did  not  involve  any  moral  distinction,  any 
adjustment  of  condition  to  character,  any  rewards  or  pun- 
ishments. But  the  idea  that  man  might  be  called  back 
again  into  real  life  from  the  nether  world,  his  spirit  clothed 
upon  with  a  new  garment  of  flesh,  rendered  possible  a 
squaring  of  accounts,  a  future  retribution.  The  relief  this 
66 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

thought  has  furnished  to  millions  of  minds,  troubled  by  the 
prosperity  of  the  wicked  and  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous, 
makes  it  all  the  more  significant  that  no  party  in  the  Book 
of  Job  makes  any  appeal  to  it.  The  friends  never  allude 
to  it;  Yahwe  himself  never  touches  it;  even  the  Elihu 
speeches  make  no  reference  to  it;  and  Job  repudiates  it. 
There  is  a  deep  pathos  in  the  words  of  Job  upon  this  sub- 
ject. He  thinks  of  God  as  yearning  to  look  once  more 
upon  the  work  so  curiously  wrought  by  his  own  hands  and 
then  destroyed.  He  thinks  of  man  as  waiting  through  long 
vigils  at  his  sentinel's  post  in  hell,  till  God's  wrath  be  spent, 
and  the  welcome  summons  heard  calling  him  back  to  life 
again.  Just  how  his  fancy  pictured  this  return  to  life, 
whether  with  the  old  body  restored,  a  new  body,  or  no 
body  at  all,  is  not  intimated.  The  Persian  doctrine  of  a 
resurrection  of  the  flesh  may  already  have  been  preached 
in  the  land;  or  the  idea  of  blessings  or  sufferings  in  a  life 
beyond  the  grave,  presented  in  the  Greek  mysteries,  may 
have  become  familiar,  if  not  the  speculations  concerning 
the  nature  of  the  soul,  implying  its  immortality. 

The  important  thing  is  that  he  resolutely  brushes  it  all 
aside  as  an  illusion,  refuses  to  shift  the  argument  to  a 
ground  where  assertion  cannot  be  met  by  evidence.  There 
is  a  marked  contrast,  however,  between  the  utter  indiffer- 
ence of  the  friends  to  such  a  new  idea  and  the  intellectual 
hospitality  of  Job.  He  feels  its  attractiveness,  places  him- 
self sympathetically  at  the  new  point  of  view,  allows  him- 

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Introduction  The  Messages 

self  to  be  buoyed  for  a  moment  by  this  "hope  of  man,"  and 
only  rejects  it  as  his  passion  to  see  the  truth  clearly  what- 
ever it  may  be  forces  him  back  upon  the  inexorable  facts. 
In  this  he  anticipates  to  some  extent  the  modern  attitude, 
with  its  willingness  to  be  convinced,  its  readiness  to  weigh 
each  proffered  evidence,  its  sympathy  with  every  serious 
attempt  to  penetrate  the  mystery  of  death,  its  sense  of  the 
great  worth  of  the  individual,  and  with  its  not  less  char- 
acteristic aversion  to  ever)'  species  of  pleasing  self-deception, 
its  distrust  of  loud  afi&rmations  or  of  whispered  intimations 
fathered  by  the  wish,  its  refusal  to  resort  to  the  wholly  un- 
knouTi  for  an  explanation  of  the  partially  knowm,  and  its 
grim  determination  to  abide  by  the  facts. 

The  deepest  problem  of  the  book,  however,  is  that  con- 
cerning the  nature  of  God.  It  exists  only  for  Job.  The 
friends  are  not  even  conscious  of  it.  What  is  knowable  of 
God,  they  know.  Before  the  mysterious  residue  they  bow 
in  satisfied  and  incurious  worship.  They  allow  no  ques- 
tion to  arise  that  will  "disturb  devotion  before  God,"  nor 
any  doubt  that  will  undermine  what  they  suppose  to  be  re- 
ligion. Perfect  in  power  and  in  wisdom,  God  should  be 
the  object  of  reverent  fear  and  adoration,  not  of  scrutinous 
inquiry  and  outspoken  criticism.  The  king  of  heaven  can 
do  no  wrong.  He  does  what  he  pleases,  and  what  he 
pleases  is  right,  however  wrong  it  may  appear  to  man.  It 
is  man's  dut>'  to  kiss  the  rod  that  strikes  him,  acknowledg- 
ing that  he  deserves  all  the  punishment  he  receives,  and  his 
6§ 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

privilege  to  accept  with  gratitude  God's  favors  in  the  happy 
confidence  that  they  are  bestowed  only  as  a  reward  for 
approved  goodness.  God  is  the  perfect  being  to  whom  no 
imperfection  must  be  ascribed,  an  ideal  fixed  and  well- 
defined,  known  to  the  fathers,  and  remaining  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  Communion  with  God  is 
the  highest  joy. 

To  Job,  on  the  other  hand,  the  contemplation  of  God  is 
the  source  of  all  his  mental  suffering.  His  conscience  does 
not  accuse  him  of  any  sin  commensurate  with  the  horrible 
fate  that  has  befallen  him.  He  claims  no  sinlessness,  no 
freedom  from  the  errors  of  youth,  or  the  failings  common  to 
all  men.  But  he  has  committed  no  crime  to  be  punished 
by  this  awful  affliction,  this  death  in  the  midst  of  life,  this 
premature  end.  The  God  who  treats  him  thus  is,  there- 
fore, in  the  wrong.  His  case  is  not  the  only  one.  Observa- 
tion shows  countless  instances  of  wickedness  that  remains 
forever  unpunished,  and  virtue  that  never  receives  its  re- 
ward. This  God  of  the  friends  who  unfailingly  deals  out 
just  retribution  does  not  exist.  The  God  who  actually  sits 
upon  the  throne  of  the  universe  has  power  and  knowledge 
to  carry  out  any  plan  of  his,  but  is  not  just,  and  fair,  and 
good,  as  even  a  man  may  be.  The  consciousness  of  this 
fills  Job  with  pain.  He  would  convict  his  divine  enemy  of 
wrong-doing,  but  the  methods  of  this  foeman  inspire  him 
with  no  confidence.  The  real  cry  of  his  burdened  soul  is: 
"Would  that  there  were  another  God!"     But  this  is  not 

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Introduction  The  Messages 

like  turning  from  one  god  to  another  in  a  pantheon.  He 
lives  in  a  monotheistic  society,  where  everybody  worships 
one  God,  the  Almighty,  the  creator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
who  reveals  himself  in  all  his  works,  through  words  and 
deeds.  It  is  this  God  who  gives  no  satisfaction  to  the  mind 
and  heart  of  Job.  A  reaction  against  the  current  concep- 
tion of  the  divine  being  no  doubt  led  some  of  his  contempo- 
raries to  the  position  that  there  is  no  God  at  all.  It  seems 
at  first  strange  that  he  did  not  himself  draw  the  same  con- 
clusion. Between  the  God  of  the  friends  whom  he  has 
rejected  as  an  unreality,  a  figment  of  their  brains,  and  the 
God  of  things  as  they  are,  whom  he  has  denounced  as  a 
monster,  and  in  whom  he  certainly  could  not  repose  a 
sincere  religious  faith,  it  is  remarkable  that  his  belief  in  a 
divine  being  at  all  should  have  survived. 

Out  of  the  depths  he  cried  for  a  higher  divinity,  and  it 
appeared.  We  catch  glimpses  now  and  then  of  the  new 
God-conception  which  he  builded  with  the  material  his 
experience  furnished.  It  is  a  God  who  sees  things  as  they 
are,  watches  with  sympathy,  and  bears  truthful  witness, 
who  rights  the  wrong  in  his  own  accepted  time,  and  gives 
inner  assurance  to  the  guiltless  of  his  divine  approval,  even 
in  the  midst  of  seemingly  accusing  external  circumstances. 
The  process  was  similar  to  that  by  which  Marcion  was  led 
to  think  of  the  Demiurge,  the  God  of  the  Jews,  and  the  God 
and  Father  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  two  distinct  divine 
beings.  The  earlier  thinker,  however,  did  not  attack  the 
70 


of  the  Poets  Introduction 

current  view,  propounded  with  the  authority  of  revelation 
and  tradition,  because  it  presented  a  low  and  unworthy 
conception  of  the  Deity,  but  because  it  suppressed,  denied, 
and  falsified  obvious  facts  in  order  to  ascribe  to  him  a 
system  of  government  supposed  to  do  him  honor.  He  did 
not  substitute  a  God  of  love  from  whom  in  a  descending 
order  of  excellence  lesser  spirits  emanate,  but  having  dis- 
robed of  his  divinity  the  ruler  of  this  world,  as  well  as  shorn 
of  all  reality  his  hypothetical  rival,  he  proclaimed  a  God  of 
justice,  of  whose  approval  or  disapproval  the  unfailing  indi- 
cation is  not  to  be  found  in  outward  circumstance,  but  in 
the  testimony  of  conscience.  Thus  came  the  return  from 
the  realm  of  reality,  where  there  are  no  gods,  to  the  realm 
of  the  ideal,  where  their  home  is.  But  thus  was  secured  a 
higher  ideal  than  that  of  the  friends.  The  chief  religious 
gains  were  the  demand  that  the  supreme  object  of  wor- 
ship shall  have  moral  excellence  as  well  as  wisdom  and 
power,  the  shifting  of  emphasis  from  the  external  to  the 
inner  experience,  and  the  freedom  of  inquiry,  criticism, 
and  choice  between  divergent  conceptions  of  the  source  of 
life,  the  ultimate  reality. 

These  gains  would  have  been  more  marked  if  greater 
attention  could  have  been  given  to  the  book  in  the  ages  that 
have  passed  since  its  composition.  To-day  it  stimulates 
and  inspires  us,  as  perhaps  no  other  work  that  has  come 
down  from  Hebrew  antiquity,  in  our  search  for  the  sources 
and  criteria  of  truth,  the  law  of  compensation  by  which  a 
71 


Introduction  The  Messages 

closer  accounting  seems  to  take  place  than  men  have  ever 
imagined,  the  ways  in  which,  if  a  man  dies,  he  may  still 
live,  and  the  relation  of  our  highest  personal  ideals  to  the 
laws  observable,  and  the  forces  operative,  in  the  life  of 
nature.  The  religious  significance  of  the  Book  of  Job  is 
in  its  way  as  great  as  that  of  the  prophetic  oracles. 


72 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 
I 

INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB 

I.  7^^  Position  in  the  Wisdom-Literature 

The  Book  of  Job  belongs  to  the  Hebrew  wisdom- 
literature.  In  spite  of  far-reaching  differences,  it  is  a 
fruit  of  the  same  spirit  as  Proverbs,  Ecclesiasticus,  Ecclesi- 
astes,  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  sayings  of  Menander, 
4  Maccabees,  and  parts  of  the  letter  of  Aristeas.  All  these 
works  have  certain  characteristics  in  common.  The  con- 
trast between  Israel's  God  and  the  gods  of  the  nations  is 
no  longer  in  the  foreground.  Monotheism  has  become  an 
absolute  achievement.  There  is  scarcely  even  a  warning 
against  idolatry.  The  thought  is  not  occupied  with  cultic 
performances.  It  is  not  felt  to  be  important  to  enjoin 
upon  young  and  old  the  duty  of  worship.  The  special  re-  ♦ 
lation  of  Israel  to  God,  and  the  consequent  glorious  future 
awaiting  the  people,  do  not  engage  the  attention  of  these 
writers.  Even  the  proper  name  of  Israel's  God  is  seldom 
used.  The  interest  is  universally  human.  It  centres  in 
the  fate  of  man,  his  duty  and  his  destiny,  not  in  the  peculiar- 
ities, vicissitudes,  and  hopes  of  a  particular  nation.  There 
75 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

is  a  nascent  tendency  to  speculation,  and  there  are  indica- 
tions of  the  presence  of  disturbing  foreign  thoughts  and 
customs.  Above  all,  the  emphasis  lies  upon  the  moral 
duties,  the  course  of  conduct  that  will  lead  any  man  to  a 
happy  and  honored  life. 

Not  one  of  these  works  can  be  called,  in  a  strict  sense, 
philosophical.  The  methods  of  reasoning  are  not  those 
characteristic  of  philosophical  thought  in  India,  Greece,  or 
the  modern  world.  But  the  material  of  all  philosophy  is 
dealt  with,  the  problems  are  to  some  extent  felt,  new  paths 
are  sought  independent  of  religious  authority.  The  prac- 
tical necessities  of  education  no  doubt  accentuated  the 
movement  of  thought.  The  young  had  to  be  taught  prin- 
ciples of  righteous  conduct.  Rules  of  good  behavior  were 
laid  down.  Wise  sayings,  embodying  observations  of  life 
calculated  to  enforce  the  moral  demands,  were  gathered  to- 
gether and  frequently  repeated.  Such  collections  of  earlier 
days  may  in  part  have  survived  in  the  later  books  we  pos- 
sess. But  the  pedagogic  interest  tended  to  shift  the  perspec- 
tive, and  unconsciously  lead  the  mind  to  a  new  range  of 
inquiry,  troublesome  doubts,  tentative  solutions,  and  in 
general  a  more  secular  attitude.  The  determining  factor 
was  the  historic  development,  the  nation  becoming  a  part 
of  the  great  Persian  and  Greek  world-empires,  and  coming 
especially  under  the  influence  of  Hellenistic  thought.  This 
foreign  impact  is  unmistakable  everywhere  in  Hebrew 
wisdom-literature. 

76 


of  the  Poets  Job^Introduction 

While  the  books  written  by  Egyptian  Jews  in  the  Greek 
language  naturally  show  most  of  this  Hellenistic  influence, 
it  is  by  no  means  absent  in  works  produced  by  Jews  in 
Palestine  writing  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic.  The  chrono- 
logically fixed  point  in  all  this  literature  is  Ecclesiasticus. 
Jesus,  the  son  of  Eleazar,  of  the  family  of  the  Siracidae, 
cannot  have  written  his  part  of  this  work  much  earlier 
than  i8o  B.  C.  His  son  Simeon,  probably  the  author  of  the 
Ode  of  Famous  Men  (chaps.  44-50),  belonged  to  the 
Maccabaean  age,  and  his  grandson  who  translated  the 
whole  work  into  Greek  came  to  Egypt  in  132  B.  C.  Com- 
pared with  this  book,  both  in  respect  of  language  and 
thought,  Ecclesiastes  is  decidedly  the  younger,  Proverbs 
apparently  somewhat  older,  though  still  undoubtedly 
within  the  same  Greek  period.  The  other  works  are  all 
later.  It  is  in  this  group  of  literary  productions,  far  re- 
moved, in  spirit  and  form,  from  the  ancient  prophets,  or 
the  Law,  that  the  Book  of  Job  has  its  place. 

2.  Its  Poetic  Form 

So  far  as  rhythm,  parallelism,  metre,  and  strophic 
structure  are  concerned,  the  Book  of  Job  does  not  differ 
essentially  from  the  rest  of  gnomic  poetry.  There  is  in- 
deed a  beauty  of  diction,  a  wealth  of  imagery,  an  exalta- 
tion of  feeling,  a  rhythmic  swing  not  found  anywhere  else. 
But  these  are  peculiarities  distinguishing  one  poet  from 

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Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

another,  though  they  use  the  same  general  form.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  in  this  book  a  certain  unity  not  seen  in 
any  other.  Prologue  and  epilogue  have  led  some  students 
to  the  idea  that  it  is  an  epic.  Yet  this  notion  is  precluded 
by  the  dialogues;  and  it  can  at  most  be  designated  as  the 
Epic  of  the  Inner  Life,  as  Genung  has  called  it.  The 
poetic  form  is  evidently  not  that  of  the  epic.  The  dia- 
logues have  caused  some  writers  to  describe  the  book  as  a 
drama.  In  so  far  as  the  sentiments  are  not  presented  by 
the  author  in  his  own  name,  or  as  expressions  of  his  own 
mental  state,  but  put  upon  the  lips  of  his  heroes,  as 
appropriate  manifestations  of  their  feelings  and  points  of 
view,  these  speeches  seem  to  have  something  of  a  dra- 
matic nature.  But  a  series  of  dialogues  is  not  sufficient  to 
constitute  a  drama.  The  most  essential  thing  in  this  form 
of  poetry  is  the  progress  of  action;  and  in  the  dialogues 
of  Job  there  is  no  action.  So  far  as  there  is  any  progress 
of  events  in  the  book  at  all,  it  is  exclusively  found  in  the 
prose  narrative,  partly  prefaced  and  partly  added  to  the 
dialogues.  In  the  speeches  of  Job  and  his  friends  the 
situation  is  exactly  the  same  from  beginning  to  end.  Even 
if  there  were  such  a  thing  as  a  drama  of  intellectual 
struggles  not  leading  to  any  complications  in  life,  it  would 
still,  to  be  a  drama  in  any  sense,  have  to  reveal  a  progress 
of  thought,  a  deepening  plot  of  mental  problems  attacking 
the  soul,  and  some  solution.  But  there  is  no  such  advance 
from  discourse  to  discourse,  from  cycle  to  cycle  in  these 

78 


of  ike  Poets  job— Introduction 

dialogues.  The  intellectual  situation  is  as  unchanged 
throughout  as  the  external.  The  same  ideas  are  repeated, 
with  pleasing  variety,  to  be  sure,  but  without  any  appreci- 
able movement  of  thought  either  toward  a  culminating 
point  of  mental  bewilderment  or  in  the  direction  of  a  final 
solution.  It  is  true  that  the  repetition  itself  and  the  varia- 
tions give  an  increasing  sense  of  the  terrible  character  of 
the  problem,  and  of  all  it  involves,  and  also  that  there  is  a 
growing  demand  that  the  Most  High  shall  justify  his  ways 
with  Job.  But  of  a  dramatic  comphcation  and  a  real 
denouement  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace.  If  it  is  argued 
that  in  "  Prometheus  Bound  "  there  is,  in  a  similar  manner, 
a  practically  unchanged  situation,  with  reflections  from 
different  points  of  view  upon  the  hero's  condition  and  what 
it  signifies,  and  without  a  marked  advance  either  in  thought 
or  action,  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  drama  only 
formed  a  part  of  a  trilogy  given  at  the  same  time,  and  that 
what  little  we  know  of  the  last  two  parts  is  sufficient  to  in- 
dicate in  a  general  way  the  onward  march  of  events. 

The  Book  of  Job  has  been  compared  with  al  Hariri's 
"Makamat,"  or  "Assemblies."  The  recurrent  dialogues  be- 
tween Abu  Zaid  and  al  Harith,  in  poetic  diction,  rhythm, 
and  rhyme,  offer  indeed  some  similarities.  How  far  back 
this  form  of  poetry  may  go  among  the  Arabs  is  difficult  to 
say.  It  was  already  used  by  al  Hamad ani,  who  died  in 
1008  A.  D.,  more  than  a  century  before  al  Hariri  wrote  his 
work.     But  Greek  literature  was  already  known  at  that 

79 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

time  through  Aramaic  translations,  and  Persian  influence 
had  also  been  felt  at  Bozrah. 

It  is,  in  all  probability,  to  the  same  Greek  influence  that 
the  dialogue  form  in  Job  is  due.  No  sooner  had  Greeks 
established  themselves  in  Egypt  or  the  Syrian  cities  than 
they  built  for  themselves  theatres  and  had  performances 
of  their  great  tragedies  and  comedies.  Even  those  who 
never  attended  the  theatre,  or  could  have  understood  the 
language,  would  be  able  to  glean  much  information  con- 
cerning the  use  of  the  building  and  what  was  done  on  the 
stage.  The  dialogue  had  been  used  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
senting philosophic  thought  pre-eminently  by  a  great  Greek 
thinker,  who  was  also  a  poet,  Plato.  The  fact  may  well 
have  been  known,  even  though  the  dialogues  of  Plato  had 
not  been  read.  The  greatest  Semitic  poet,  by  adopting 
this  form,  probably  approached  nearer  to  the  drama,  with- 
out reaching  it,  than  any  man  of  genius  this  family  of  nations 
has  produced. 

3.  The  Prose  Story 

A  narrative  in  prose  forms  the  introduction  to  the  book, 
and  another  closes  it.  The  prologue  (chaps,  i  and  2)  and 
the  epilogue  (chap.  42  :  7-17)  unquestionably  come  from 
the  same  hand.  They  are  the  only  parts  preserved  of  the 
old  folk-story  of  Job.  It  is  evident  from  42  :  7  that  this 
story  once  contained  speeches  made  by  Job,  his  three 
friends,  and  Yahwe,  but  also  that  these  speeches  must  have 
80 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

been  very  different  from  those  which  we  find  in  the  present 
book.  In  the  passage  quoted,  Yahwe  says  to  Eliphaz: 
"My  wrath  is  kindled  against  thee  and  against  thy  two 
friends;  for  ye  have  not  spoken  of  me  the  thing  that  is 
right,  as  my  servant  Job  has."  He  thereupon  commands 
them  to  take  seven  bullocks  and  seven  rams,  and  go  to  his 
servant  Job,  and  offer  up  a  burnt  offering  for  themselves. 
If  his  servant  Job  will  intercede  on  their  behalf,  he  will,  for 
his  servant  Job's  sake,  pardon  them,  and  not  deal  with 
them  according  to  their  folly.  It  is  only  necessary  to  read 
the  present  dialogues  to  see  how  utterly  impossible  it  would 
be  thus  to  characterize  the  attitude  assumed  in  them  by 
Job  and  his  disputants.  There  the  friends  speak  with 
utmost  reverence  of  God,  maintaining  that  he  is  always 
just,  as  he  is  powerful  and  wise.  Whatever  a  later  thinlfer 
may  find  to  criticise  in  this  pious  and  naive  confidence,  in 
this  placid  and  easily  satisfied  orthodoxy,  there  certainly 
could  have  been  nothing  in  their  discourses  ringing  with 
the  praise  of  God  to  provoke  serious  dissent  on  the  part  of 
the  author  of  the  prose  story,  or  cause  the  God  he  worships 
to  rush  against  them  in  burning  wrath  in  order  to  take  their 
lives.  On  the  other  hand,  how  could  he  possibly  have  be- 
stowed such  an  unqualified  approval  on  the  Job  of  our 
dialogues  ?  His  is  a  patient  Job,  who  suffers  without  com- 
plaint, murmurs  no  word  of  criticism,  voices  no  question  or 
doubt;  theirs  is  an  impatient  Job,  full  of  anger  and  resent- 
ment, complaint  and  censure,  never  mincing  his  words, 
8i 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

charging  God  with  being  a  tyrant,  denying  his  justice,  fair- 
ness, and  mercy,  making  it  a  special  grievance  against  him 
that  he  pays  attention  to  "the  words  of  the  despairing  which 
are  but  for  the  wind."  To  a  profounder  mind  this  storm 
and  stress  of  turbulent  thoughts,  unrestrained  passions,  and 
reckless  words  may  betoken  the  yearning  of  an  earnest  soul 
for  a  God  higher  than  that  worshipped  by  the  crowd.  But 
how  could  the  author  of  the  original  story,  who  cares  so 
deeply  for  propriety  of  speech,  that  he  substitutes  a  euphe- 
mism for  a  bad  word  even  on  the  lips  of  Job's  wife,  and  is 
so  vitally  concerned  about  sacrifices,  regard  this  Job  as 
having  spoken  the  thing  that  is  right  of  God  ? 

In  the  original  story,  the  friends,  ignorant  of  the  wager 
in  heaven,  probably  angered  Yahwe  by  ascribing  to  him, 
and  to  wrong  motives  on  his  part,  what  in  reality  was  due 
to  Satan's  impudence  and  Yahwe's  jealous  love  of  his  ser- 
vant; Job  probably  maintained  his  patience  in  suflfering, 
his  gentle  submission  to  the  will  of  Yahwe,  and  his  cautious 
care  never  to  speak  a  word  of  complaint  or  criticism;  and 
Yahwe,  out  of  the  storm,  thundered  his  disapproval,  not  of 
Job,  but  of  his  friends,  before  he  was  willing  to  grant  them 
their  lives  after  Job's  intercession  on  their  behalf.  This 
author  used  unhesitatingly,  like  the  Judaean  writer  in  the 
Pentateuch,  the  name  of  Yahwe,  even  when  it  had  to  come 
from  the  lips  of  non -Israelites,  as  we  see  from  the  parts 
preserved;  while  the  younger  poet  carefully  avoided  it, 
and  used  such,  to  his  mind,  more  appropriate  names  as  El, 
82 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

Eloah,  Elohim,  and  Shaddai.  The  former  found  in  the 
suspicion  of  Satan  the  cause  of  Job's  suffering;  the  latter 
took  no  notice  of  this.  The  patience  of  Job  in  the  prose 
account  contrasts  strikingly  with  his  characteristic  impa- 
tience in  the  dialogues.  The  righteous,  so  the  earlier  writer 
thinks,  may  in  exceptional  cases  suffer  as  though  he  were 
unrighteous,  but  this  can  only  be  incidental,  and  in  the  end 
he  will  be  amply  rewarded;  while  the  poet  apparently  sees 
no  necessary  connection  between  piety  and  prosperity,  and 
does  not  even  regard  the  suffering  of  the  righteous  as  a  trial 
of  his  piety.  It  is  not  only  the  name  of  God,  but  the  whole 
conception  of  the  divine  being,  that  is  different  in  this  earlier 
story  from  what  it  is  in  the  dialogues.  Somewhat  puzzling 
is  the  absence  in  the  epilogue  of  any  reference  to  Satan's 
discomfiture,  or  to  Job's  wife.  They  are  perhaps  more 
likely  to  have  been  removed  than  forgotten. 

4.  The  Dialogues 

The  part  of  the  Book  of  Job  to  which  its  importance  is 
chiefly  due  extends  from  chapter  3  to  the  end  of  chapter 
31,  with  the  exception  of  some  interpolations  to  be  noted 
below.  It  contains:  (i)  Job's  lament  (chap.  3);  (2)  a  first 
cycle  of  discourses  by  Eliphaz^  Bildad,  and  Zophar,  and 
after  each  the  answer  of  Job  (chaps.  4-14);  (3)  a  second 
cycle  similarly  arranged  (chaps.  15-21);  and  (4)  a  third  in 
the  same  order  (chaps.  22-31).    There  are,  consequently, 

83 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

in  addition  to  the  opening  lament,  eighteen  discourses. 
Job  speaks  ten  times,  each  of  the  friends  three  times. 
These  speeches  have  sometimes  been  called  monologues, 
on  account  of  their  length,  and  because  they  have  more  of 
the  nature  of  formal  discourses  than  of  conversations,  with 
quick  repartee  and  rejoinder.  They  certainly  make  a 
different  impression  in  this  respect  from  that  of  the  Platonic 
dialogues.  Nevertheless,  the  whole  structure  of  the  poem 
shows  that  dialogues  were  intended.  Each  speech  by  one 
of  the  friends  is  answered  by  Job,  and  each  speaker  begins 
by  a  reference  to  what  has  been  said  immediately  before, 
even  if  he  is  soon  carried  away  into  his  own  groove  of 
thought.  Job's  speeches  are  as  a  rule  longer  than  those  of 
his  friends.  His  last  summing  up  is  more  extensive  than 
any  of  the  others,  and  deeply  impressive.  The  friends 
begin  better  than  they  end,  and  their  last  utterances  are 
shorter  and  less  important  than  their  first.  It  would  be 
wrong,  however,  to  infer  from  these  facts  that  the  author  is 
unwilling  or  unable  to  do  justice  to  the  arguments  of  the 
friends.  Considering  that  his  sympathies  are  clearly  with 
Job,  it  is  an  indication  of  his  intellectual  strength  as  well  as 
of  his  artistic  sense  that  he  lavishes  so  much  care  upon 
their  discourses.  He  makes  them  no  men  of  straw,  but 
the  earnest,  resourceful,  and  eloquent  defenders  of  their 
views.  It  was  evidently  his  purpose  to  give  to  each  of 
them  a  distinct  character,  and  this  is  well  carried  out  in  the 
first  cycle,  somewhat  less  carefully  in  the  second  and  third. 
84 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

The  friends  represent  substantially  the  stand-point  of  the 
prose  story.  But  there  is  more  maturity  of  judgment. 
The  almighty,  omniscient,  and  absolutely  just  being  whom 
they  worship  is  not  influenced  by  the  slanderous  insinua- 
tions of  a  Satan,  does  not  have  to  inflict  the  most  horrible 
sufferings  on  a  human  soul  in  order  to  find  out  whether  it 
will  remain  true  to  him,  is  not  so  regardless  of  everything 
else  but  his  own  glory,  his  own  wounded  self-esteem,  as  to 
be  willing  to  sacrifice  to  it  his  faithful  servant,  or  to  be  even 
temporarily  unjust  in  dealing  with  him,  is  not  ready  to  shift 
the  responsibility,  in  the  slightest  measure,  to  the  shoulders 
of  a  subordinate.  He  knows  what  will  happen;  he  does 
what  he  pleases,  and  does  it  himself;  but  what  he  pleases 
is  always  just,  fair,  and  merited  by  man's  righteous  or  un- 
righteous course  of  action.  External  sacrifices  do  not 
count  for  so  much.  It  is  by  a  quiet,  devout,  submissive, 
and  resigned  attitude  that  a  man  becomes  pleasing  in  the 
sight  of  God.  This  is  the  spirit  that  breathes  in  practically 
all  Hebrew  literature. 

Job,  on  the  other  hand,  has  a  decidedly  un-Hebraic 
stamp.  There  is  none  like  him  in  the  Jewish  world.  Oc- 
casionally one  thinks  of  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse  of 
Ezra,  Paul,  Uriel  d'Acosta,  Baruch  Spinoza,  or  Heinrich 
Heine.  But  the  resemblance  is  distant.  None  of  these  has 
so  foreign  a  look.  In  spite  of  the  often  wider  reach  of  their 
thought,  none  of  them  ever  departs  so  far  from  the  position 
characteristic  of  the  Hebrew  mind.    Among  other  Semites, 

85 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

there  are  two  who  remind  us  to  some  extent  of  the  author  of 
the  dialogues.  One  is  Abu'l  Ala  al  Ma'arri,  whose  inde- 
pendence of  authority,  deep  insight,  unabashed  frankness, 
and  poetic  genius  naturally  call  for  a  comparison.  But, 
after  all,  the  resemblance  to  Lucian  is  far  more  striking, 
and  that  sufl&ciently  indicates  the  difference.  The  other  is 
the  unknown  Babylonian  who  apparently  some  time  before 
the  reign  of  Ashurbanipal  (668-626  B.  C.)  wrote  the  elegy 
of  Tabi  utul  Bel,  king  of  Nippur  (Rawlinson,  The  Cune- 
iform Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  IV,  No.  60;  cf.  Zim- 
mern.  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte  Testament,  pp.  385 
f.,  and  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  Die  Religion  Bahyloniens  und 
Assyriens,  1906,  9  Lief.,  pp.  120  ff.).  Like  Hezekiah,  king 
of  Judah,  Tabi  utul  Bel  is  said  to  have  been  sick  and  to 
have  recovered  from  his  illness,  and  as  in  the  case  cf  Heze- 
kiah (Isa.  38  :  10-20),  so  in  that  of  Tabi  utul  Bel,  a  poet 
put  upon  the  lips  of  the  king  an  appropriate  utterance  com- 
prising a  plaintive  description  of  his  sufferings  and  thanks- 
giving for  recovery.  If  the  illness,  the  evil  demon  bringing 
it  about,  the  disrespect  shown  to  the  stricken  man,  the  res- 
toration and  its  rich  rewards  cause  us  to  think  of  the  prose 
story  in  the  Book  of  Job,  there  is  a  certain  protest  of  inno- 
cence and  complaint  of  suffering  that  remotely  recall  the 
figure  of  the  Job  of  the  dialogues.  But  the  protest  is  so 
gentle,  hesitating,  deferent,  and  mild-mannered,  and  the 
complaint  so  clearly  directed  against  the  wicked  demon,  and 
not  against  the  god,  that  the  most  distinguishing  feature  of 
86 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

the  Jobeid  is  absolutely  lacking  in  the  Babylonian  poem 
well  designated  by  its  title  as  "Praise  of  the  Lord  of 
Wisdom." 

There  is  only  one  great  work  in  the  world's  literature 
that  really  resembles  Job,  and  that  is  the  "Prometheus 
Bound"  of  iEschylus.  In  both  there  is  the  same  reckless, 
scornfully  indignant  accusation  of  wrong  hurled  by  the 
hero  against  the  tyrant  on  the  throne  of  the  universe,  the 
same  defence  of  the  supreme  god  by  friends,  the  same  ad- 
vice not  to  ofifend  with  the  tongue,  the  same  impatience 
with  what  is  felt  on  either  side  to  be  a  mere  tempest  of 
empty  words,  the  same  emphasis  upon  the  hero's  righteous 
character  and  benevolent  deeds.  So  great  is  the  similarity 
between  the  two  titans  that  it  is  easy  to  forget  that  Prome- 
theus is  a  god,  Job  only  a  man,  that  Oceanus  is  more 
friendly  than  Eliphaz,  though  not  less  ready  in  the  end  to 
side  with  power,  the  chorus  gentler  than  Bildad,  though  not 
a  whit  less  insistent  upon  respect  for  tradition  and  authority, 
and  Hermes  a  divine  lackey,  and  not  a  blustering  human 
spokesman  of  the  god  of  the  present  order  and  the  majority 
that  worships  him,  and  that  Prometheus  suffers  because  he 
has  brought  fire  and  the  arts  of  civilization  to  man,  while 
Job  suffers  as  experience  has  shown  that  in  this  world  of 
ours  any  righteous  man  may  do.  Still  more  marked  is  the 
difference  that  ^schylus  went  on  to  write  "Prometheus 
Loosed,"  while  the  author  of  the  dialogues  leaves  Job 
under  his  affliction,  but  defiant  and  proud  to  the  end. 

87 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

Nevertheless,  these  two  works  are  so  much  aHke  that  the 
thought  of  dependence  naturally  suggests  itself.  If  such 
there  is,  it  can  only  be  on  the  part  of  the  Hebrew  poet,  and 
would  not  detract  from  his  originality  any  more  than  the 
dependence  of  Goethe  and  Byron  on  Job  for  some  motives. 
It  is  by  no  means  necessary,  however,  to  suppose  that  the 
author  was  familiar  with  the  Greek,  or  had  ever  seen  the 
play  of  -^schylus.  Stories  passed  from  people  to  people  as 
soon  as  they  came  into  more  frequent  contact.  The  recent 
finds  of  Aramaic  papyri  on  Elephantine  have  shown  how 
the  Achikar  story  had  found  its  way  to  the  little  Jewish 
community  on  that  island.  That  of  Prometheus  would 
naturally  be  told  in  Syria  or  Egypt  after  the  days  of  ^Eschy- 
lus  in  the  form  he  had  given  it.  The  Greek-speaking  Jews 
formed  the  connecting  link  between  Hellas  and  Palestine. 
There  is  no  real  reason  to  doubt  the  substantial  accuracy 
of  the  anecdote  told  by  Clearchus  of  Soli  {Frag.  Hist. 
GrcBC,  ed.  Didot,  II,  323),  according  to  which  Aristotle 
gave  his  disciples  an  enthusiastic  account  of  his  meeting 
with  a  Jewish  philosopher  who  was  ''Greek  not  only  in 
speech,  but  in  soul."  Such  men  may  at  times  have  passed 
on  many  ideas  as  well  as  stories  to  their  Aramaic-speaking 
co-religionists.  If  the  figures  of  the  titan  on  his  crag  defy- 
ing Zeus  and  his  friends  defending  the  god  had  once  a 
chance  to  present  themselves  to  our  poet's  mind,  his  own 
experience  with  a  more  urgent  and  practical  problem  of 
life  and  his  imagination  would  readily  suggest  the  idea  of 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

casting  the  Job  of  the  popular  legend  into  the  heroic  mould 
of  a  Prometheus.  But  whether  or  not  there  is,  even  to  this 
extent,  a  dependence,  the  two  masterpieces  are  fruits  of  the 
same  spirit. 

5.  The  Addresses  of  Elihu 

In  the  prologue  only  three  friends,  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and 
Zophar,  are  mentioned;  and  in  the  epilogue  only  the  same 
three  friends.  The  original  story,  consequently,  did  not 
refer  to  a  certain  Elihu,  the  son  of  Barachel,  the  Buzite. 
In  the  dialogues  speeches  by  the  three  friends  alternate 
with  discourses  made  by  Job,  but  Elihu  is  never  mentioned. 
In  chap.  32  :  I  ff.  he  is  introduced  as  a  younger  man  who 
had  waited  to  speak,  but  no  longer  could  restrain  his  wrath 
against  Job  because  he  had  made  himself  more  just  than 
God,  and  against  his  friends  because  they  had  found  no 
answer.  There  then  follow  four  addresses,  on  the  cause 
and  purpose  of  suffering  (chap,  2>i)i  the  divine  justice 
(chap.  34),  the  apparent  unprofitableness  of  piety  (chap. 
35),  and  the  desirability  of  submission  to  the  merciful,  just, 
and  irresistible  rule  of  God  (chaps.  36  f.).  In  language, 
style,  and  thought  they  differ  from  the  dialogues,  and  evi- 
dently come  from  a  later  and  inferior  writer.  He  has  so 
little  of  importance  to  add  that  his  pompousness  and  self- 
conceit  border  on  the  ludicrous.  Bruno  Bauer  sought, 
indeed,  to  interpret  this  as  intended  by  the  author  of  the 
entire  book  to  represent  the  storm  and  stress  with  which  the 

89 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

new  time  brought  to  light  new  and  significant  ideas,  and  as 
the  chief  of  these  pointed  out  the  pedagogic  value  of  suffer- 
ing as  a  trial.  This  independent  thinker  has  had  many 
followers  among  conservative  exegetes,  who  have  never 
mentioned  his  name  or  his  thoughtful  exposition.  But  the 
majority  of  critics  since  Eichhorn  have  rejected  as  a  later 
interpolation  all  these  chapters  and  in  this  they  seem  to  the 
present  writer  to  be  unquestionably  right.  No  plausible 
reason  has  as  yet  been  given  why  the  author  of  the  dialogues 
should  have  brought  in  a  fourth  speaker  to  give  four  ad- 
dresses without  any  reply  to  them,  as  though  they  were  of 
final  authority,  ostensibly  to  rebuke  the  friends  for  not 
having  found  an  answer  to  Job,  as  well  as  Job  for  his 
arrogance,  while  in  reality  he  only  quotes  at  tedious 
length  the  words  of  these  earlier  speakers,  or  varies  in  less 
impressive  language  the  arguments  already  set  forth,  all 
for  the  purpose  of  uttering  incidentally  in  two  or  three 
lines,  without  any  particular  emphasis,  the  thought  that 
patient  endurance  of  suffering  may  lead  to  perfect  obedi- 
ence, and  hence  the  restoration  of  prosperity  (cf .  especially 
36  :  15)- 

6.  The  Speech  of  Yahwe 

In   the  original  story  some  words  of  Yahwe  to  Job 

apparently  preceded  his  words  to  Eliphaz  (42  :  7).     They 

can  scarcely  have  contained  anything  else  than  approval 

of  Job  and  censure  of  his  friends  with  illustrations  of  how 

90 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

Job  had  spoken  the  right  thing  of  him.  This  probably 
suited  the  author  of  the  dialogues  well  enough.  Having 
said  what  was  in  his  heart,  he  had  no  reason  to  interfere 
further  with  the  book.  The  speech  in  our  present  text 
begins  as  did  the  original  address,  no  doubt:  "Then 
Yahwe  answered  Job  out  of  the  whirlwind,  and  said,"  the 
definite  article  before  "whirlwind"  probably  referring  to 
a  preceding  account  of  a  theophany.  But  the  speech  we 
read  is  a  severe  arraignment  of  Job.  In  some  respects  it 
is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  productions  of  the  Hebrew 
muse,  as  is  generally  recognized.  So  far  as  its  literary 
character  is  concerned,  it  is  quite  worthy  of  the  great  poet 
of  the  dialogues,  and  most  scholars  have  accepted  it  as  his 
work.  Yet  there  are  many  weighty  considerations  that 
may  be  raised  against  this  view.  Job  had  expressed  his 
ardent  wish  to  meet  God  personally  (13  :  15  ff.;  23  :  2  f.). 
This  was  not  for  the  purpose  of  asking  him  witty  questions, 
as  has  been  suggested,  concerning  the  riddle  of  the  divine 
government  of  the  world.  He  desired  to  convince  him  that 
he  had  not  merited  the  fate  that  had  befallen  him,  to  find 
out  why  he  was  no  longer  permitted  to  enjoy  his  friendship, 
to  claim  him  as  a  witness  against  his  friends.  He  had 
proudly,  but  in  utmost  sincerity,  demanded  the  privilege 
of  knowing  what  the  charge  was  against  him,  requested 
that  God  himself  would  testify  that  his  friends,  led  by  a 
partisan  and  discreditable  zeal  to  vindicate  at  all  hazards 
the  divine  honor,  had  done  him  a  grievous  wrong,  imputed 

91 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

to  him  some  hidden  crime  commensurate  with  the  calam- 
ity he  was  supposed  to  suffer  as  a  punishment.  To  all 
these  questions  there  is  not  the  slightest  answer;  not  one 
of  these  requests  is  even  thought  worthy  of  a  passing  refer- 
ence. In  a  tone  of  cruel  mockery,  the  Almighty  asks  him 
to  explain  how  the  world  was  made,  what  are  the  mysteries 
of  the  process  by  which  the  things  of  earth,  and  sea,  and 
air  have  come  into  existence  and  are  maintained.  He  asks 
him  who  has  determined  the  constellations  of  the  sky,  and 
marshals  as  a  host  the  heavenly  luminaries.  He  places 
before  his  eyes  beasts  living  far  away  from  man  in  the 
wilderness  and  yet  are  provided  for  by  divine  care.  What 
is  the  relevancy  of  all  this  ?  Is  the  Job  of  the  dialogues  in 
need  of  this  stinging  rebuke  ?  Has  he  ever  questioned  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God?  On  the  contrary,  he  has 
emphasized  them.  He  has  accepted  all  that  the  friends 
have  said  on  that  score  (12  :  1-29;  26  :  5-14,  and  else- 
where). In  fact,  it  is  this  wisdom  and  power,  manifest 
everywhere,  that  gives  him  all  his  mental  agony.  For 
why  should  not  he,  who  is  so  wise  and  powerful,  be  just 
and  kind  in  dealing  with  man  ?  Why  should  not  the  judge 
of  all  the  earth  be  right? 

It  has  been  suggested  that  the  purpose  of  this  speech  is 
to  show  Job  that  his  suffering  is  an  inscrutable  mystery,  as 
impossible  for  him  to  solve  as  the  mysteries  of  creation, 
that  there  is  an  analogy  between  God's  government  of  the 
universe  in  general  and  of  man's  affairs,  and  that  his  jus- 
92 


I 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

tice  in  one  case  must  be  taken  for  granted  as  well  as  in  the 
other,  where  there  are  manifest  hints  of  his  watch-care  not 
less  than  of  his  intelligence  and  power.  But  there  is  no 
intimation  whatever  in  the  text  itself  of  any  such  purpose. 
The  one  thing  that  should  have  been  said,  if  this  was  the 
intention,  has  been  unaccountably  left  out.  Others  have 
thought  that  it  did  not  matter  so  much  what  Yahwe  said. 
The  appearance  of  God  to  Job  was  in  itself  a  satisfaction. 
God  had  at  last  spoken.  Duhm,  a  critic  of  great  penetra- 
tion and  insight,  has  in  this  manner  put  all  the  stress  on 
the  theophany,  with  the  added  observation  that  there 
would  be  a  certain  relief  to  the  lacerated  mind  to  be  taken 
out  of  the  narrower  field  of  human  concerns  to  the  larger 
arena  of  nature's  life.  No  doubt  there  is  an  element  of 
truth  in  this.  Nevertheless,  it  is  wellnigh  inconceivable 
that  a  man  like  the  author  of  the  dialogues  should  have 
forgotten  all  that  Job  really  desired  in  such  an  interview 
with  God,  should  have  represented  the  Most  High  as  show- 
ing such  an  utter  disregard  for  the  natural  cravings  of  the 
heart  he  had  made,  the  sorely  stricken  and  perplexed 
creature  for  whom  he  once  fancied  that  the  divine  heart 
might  possibly  yearn,  even  after  he  had  been  consigned  to 
the  shades  of  hell,  and  that  he  should  have  deliberately 
left  out  the  question  of  all  questions  with  which  his  work 
has  been  dealing.  It  seems  more  natural  to  suppose  that 
another  master  workman,  of  a  different  spirit,  seeing  the 
irrelevancy  of  the  old  speech  in  view  of  Job's  apparently 

93 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

so  arrogant  attitude,  was  led  to  put  the  divine  approval, 
as  the  present  speech  does,  upon  the  contention  of  the 
friends,  yet  with  a  fresh  emphasis  upon  the  inscrutability 
of  nature's  economy  in  general. 

7.  Minor  Additions 

It  is  possible  that  Job's  reply  (chap.  40  :  3-5;  42  :  2,  3, 
5,  6)  was  added  to  the  speech  of  Yahwe  by  a  later  hand. 
It  certainly  is  not  written  in  the  spirit  of  the  dialogues,  and 
has  no  sense  except  as  an  answer  to  the  challenge  in 
40  : 2-5,  9-14.  It  has  been  generally  seen,  since  Ewald 
first  called  attention  to  the  fact,  that  the  descriptions  of 
Behemoth  and  Leviathan  (chap.  40  :  15-41  :  26),  so  dif- 
ferent in  style  and  nature  from  the  rest  of  the  speech  of 
Yahwe,  are  secondary.  The  twenty-fourth  chapter,  writ- 
ten in  tristichs,  and  the  twenty-eighth,  with  strophes  of 
twelve  lines  and  a  refrain  in  two,  are  likewise  interpola- 
tions. In  other  places  also  there  are  the  usual  additions  by 
scribes.  The  shorter  text  of  the  earliest  version  suggests 
that  there  may  be  more  of  these  than  have  been  hitherto 
recognized. 

8.  Authorship 

There  was  a  time  when  the  entire  book  was  supposed  to 
be  the  report,  probably  by  Job  himself,  of  what  had  actu- 
ally been  done  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  said  by  the 
94 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

afflicted  hero,  his  wife,  his  three  friends,  Elihu,  Satan,  and 
God.  This  view,  in  connection  with  certain  unquestion- 
able linguistic  facts,  led  to  the  inquiry  whether  Arabic, 
Aramaic,  or  Edomitish  had  been  used  in  the  conversation. 
Already  in  the  period  of  the  Tannaim  serious  questions 
as  to  the  authorship  seem  to  have  arisen.  Johanan  and 
Eleazar  taught  that  Job  was  one  of  the  exiles  who  opened 
a  school  in  Tiberias,  in  spite  of  the  objections  that  Job, 
Eliphaz,  Bildad,  Zophar,  and  Elihu  must  have  been 
prophets  among  the  nations;  and  a  disciple  of  Samuel  ben 
Nahmani  maintained  that  Job  had  never  existed,  but  that 
the  book  was  a  parable,  like  that  of  Nathan  (Baba  bathra 
15a).  The  prevalent  opinion  appears  to  have  been  that 
the  book  was  written  by  Moses  in  the  sense  that  he  had 
recorded  what  Job  and  the  others  had  said  (ibid.).  When 
the  growing  appreciation  of  its  literary  character  rendered 
it  difficult  to  accept  even  this  tradition,  a  compromise  was 
first  made  by  supposing  a  historic  nucleus,  while  later  every- 
thing, including  the  names  themselves,  was  regarded  as  a 
free  invention. 

At  the  present  time  there  is  a  tendency  to  consider  the 
names  as  historical,  and  not  symbolical.  A  colophon  in 
the  Greek  version  states,  on  the  authority  of  "the  Syriac 
book,"  that  Job  lived  on  the  borders  of  Idumaea  and  Arabia, 
was  formerly  called  Jobab,  was  the  grandson  of  Esau,  and 
the  second  king  of  Edom.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
legend  first  attached  itself  to  this  Edomitish  king.    Eliphaz 

95 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

of  Teman,  a  district  in  Edom,  appears  in  Gen.  36  :  4,  as  a 
son  of  Esau.  The  Greek  version  shows  that  in  Gen. 
36  :  II,  15,  the  original  reading  was  Zophar,  who  conse- 
quently was  a  son  of  Eliphaz.  Bildad  is  probably  identical 
with  Bedad,  the  father  of  Adad,  the  third  king  of  Edom 
(Gen.  36  :  35).  The  names  found  by  the  author  of  the 
prose  story  in  the  current  legend  may  all  have  been  those 
of  actually  existing  rulers  in  Edom. 

The  writers  to  whom  we  owe  the  present  book  are  un- 
known to  us  by  name.  The  first  of  these  was  the  author 
of  the  prose  narrative.  His  work  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
great  poet,  who  substituted  the  matchless  colloquies  for 
the  speeches  of  the  friends.  Beyond  chapter  31  his  hand 
cannot  be  seen.  In  the  new  dialogues  Job  expressed  his 
desire  to  hear  the  voice  of  God,  and  the  poet  probably  left 
the  old  speech  of  Yahwe,  reproving  the  friends,  to  which  he 
could  have  had  no  objection.  He  was  not  an  editor. 
When  the  work  left  his  hand,  it  presented  very  much  the 
same  general  appearance  that  it  had  before.  But  it  had 
by  the  touch  of  genius  been  made  one  of  the  masterpieces 
in  human  literature.  The  author  of  the  speech  of  Yahwe 
no  doubt  added  much  to-  the  beauty  and  impressiveness  of 
the  work,  though  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  add  greatly  to 
the  advance  of  thought  or  the  solution  of  the  problem.  It 
was  natural  for  the  man  who  wrote  the  Elihu  addresses  to 
insert  them  after  the  dialogues  and  before  the  speech  of 
Yahwe.     Other   additions  were   made   by  copyists  and 

96 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

owners  of  manuscripts.  There  is  no  sign  of  any  editorial 
activity,  or  of  a  composition  of  the  work  in  its  present 
form.  It  grew  by  simple  and  perfectly  intelligible  changes 
to  be  what  it  is. 

9.  The  Date 

The  prose  story  was  probably  written  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury B.  C.  It  is  no  longer  possible  to  argue  a  pre-Deuter- 
onomic  origin  from  the  efficacy  ascribed  to  sacrifices,  the 
absence  of  any  reference  to  the  sin  offering,  the  ignorance 
of  the  centralization  of  the  cult,  and  the  prohibition  of 
sacrifices  in  any  other  place  than  the  one  chosen  or  by  any 
other  priesthood  than  that  of  the  central  sanctuary.  For 
the  Elephantine  papyri  have  shown  that  precisely  the  same 
religious  views  and  conditions  prevailed  in  the  second  half 
of  the  fifth  century  among  the  Jews  of  that  island,  who 
were  to  some  extent  in  touch  with  the  mother  country. 
They  strongly  believe  in  the  efficacy  of  sacrifices;  they 
know  no  special  sin-offering;  they  have  a  temple  of  their 
own  in  which  the  cult  is  carried  on  by  persons  not  con- 
nected with  the  priestly  family  in  Jerusalem.  Even  in 
Judaea,  before  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  a  man  living  on  the 
border  of  what  was  then  Idumaea,  near  the  old  sanctuaries 
of  the  Negeb,  may  well  have  been  sufficiently  in  touch  with 
the  order  of  things  which  only  very  gradually  was  passing 
away  in  the  capital  to  present  the  old  Job  legends  without 
introducing  into  it  more  modern  ideas  and  customs.    The 

97 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

reference  to  the  Chaldaeans  has  a  decidedly  antiquarian 
look.  Before  Nabu-apal-uzur,  the  Chaldaeans  are  not 
likely  to  have  made  raids  on  the  borders  of  Edom,  and  the 
description  does  not  suggest  the  invasion  of  an  imperial 
army.  The  historian  who  in  the  exile  wrote  the  Book  of 
Kings  did  not  as  yet  know  the  figure  of  Satan.  He  ap- 
pears for  the  first  time  in  Zechariah  (3  :  i,  2),  and  has  un- 
questionably developed  under  the  influence  of  Persian 
dualism. 

The  references  to  Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  in  Ezek. 
14  :  14  ff.  do  not  prove  the  existence  of  a  book  of  Job  any 
more  than  that  of  books  of  Daniel  and  Noah,  but  pre- 
suppose acquaintance  with  these  heroes  of  righteousness. 
If  it  is  difficult  to  assume  that  Ezekiel  speaks  thus  of  a 
younger  contemporary,  "a, Babylonian  student,"  as  Reuss 
calls  him,  it  is  even  more  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  Daniel 
not  connected  at  all  with  the  period  of  history  to  which  the 
Book  of  Daniel  assigns  him.  Were  a  passage  as  suspicious 
as  this  found  in  Moses,  or  any  of  the  other  prophets,  the 
critics  would  not  hesitate  long.  The  present  writer  cannot 
share  the  naive  and  pathetic  faith  in  the  integrity  of  a  book 
whose  text,  as  is  generally  admitted,  has  suffered  more 
from  the  carelessness  and  inaccuracy  of  scribes  than  per- 
haps any  other  in  the  canon.  Ezek.  14 :  12-23,  which  does 
not  connect  either  with  what  precedes  or  what  follows, 
seems  to  him  plainly  secondary.  The  passage  does  not 
affect  the  date  of  the  prose  story. 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  dialogues  are  much 
later.  It  is  not  easy  to  determine  how  much.  Even  if 
acquaintance  with  the  Prometheus  story  in  the  form  given 
it  by  ^schylus  and  the  dialogues  of  Plato  is  assumed, 
this  would  not  necessarily  preclude  a  date  earlier  than 
Alexander.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  we  shall  have 
to  go  down  to  the  period  of  the  diadochi  or  the  first  Ptol- 
emies. The  close  relations  to  Egypt  at  a  time  when  Pales- 
tine was  ruled  from  Alexandria  facilitated  a  peaceful  ex- 
change of  ideas.  The  spiritual  atmosphere  began  to  be 
saturated  with  Hellenism,  influencing  not  only  those  who 
spoke  the  Greek  language,  but  also  the  Aramaic-speaking 
part  of  the  population.  This  work  was  the  first-fruits 
of  the  wisdom-literature,  possibly  a  century  earlier  than 
Ecclesiasticus. 

It  is  possible  that  the  present  speech  of  Yah  we  repre- 
sented the  reaction  in  the  early  Seleucid  period,  and  highly 
probable  that  the  Elihu  addresses  were  written  after  the 
Book  of  Chronicles  and  the  Apocalypse  of  Daniel  had  ap- 
peared, in  the  second  century  B.  C.  The  Praise  of  Wisdom 
and  the  descriptions  of  Behemoth  and  Leviathan  probably 
belong  to  the  same  century.  Even  after  the  Greek  version 
had  been  made,  in  the  beginning  of  the  first  century  A.  D., 
as  Gratz  has  shown,  the  text  underwent  many  changes. 


99 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

lo.  Place  of  Composition 

According  to  the  earliest  tradition,  preserved  in  the 
Greek  text,  Job  lived  in  the  land  of  Ausis,  on  the  border 
of  Idumaea  and  Arabia,  and  there  the  conversation  was 
supposed  to  have  occurred.  Those  who  regarded  Moses 
as  the  writer  must  have  looked  upon  the  book  as  com- 
posed outside  of  Palestine,  and  that  has,  of  course,  been 
the  position  of  all  who  failed  to  recognize  it  as  a  work  of 
fiction.  The  opinion  of  Johanan  and  Eleazar,  according 
to  which  the  author  lived  in  Tiberias,  has  probably  no 
more  value  than  later  conjectures.  Egypt  has  often  been 
thought  of  as  the  home  of  the  poet.  But  aside  from  the 
descriptions  of  Behemoth  and  Leviathan,  to  which  the 
hippopotamus  and  the  crocodile  may  have  furnished  some 
features,  there  is  nothing  that  might  not  have  been  known 
in  Palestine,  such  as  the  pyramids,  the  Nile-grass,  or  the 
light  papyrus  skiffs. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  author  of  the  folk-story 
lived  in  the  Negeb,  or  south  country,  between  Judaea  and 
Egypt  to  the  west,  and  Edom  to  the  east.  The  great  poet 
himself  may  have  acquired  his  knowledge  of  the  desert 
and  of  Egypt  by  travel.  Where  in  Palestine  he  lived,  we 
do  not  know.  If  the  writer  who  has  described  Behemoth 
and  Leviathan  thought  of  the  hippopotamus  and  the  croc- 
odile, he  is  more  likely  to  have  heard  of  these  animals  than 
to  have  seen  them  with  his  own  eyes.  There  is  nothing  to 
100 


of  the  Poets  Job — Introduction 

indicate  where  the  authors  of  Yahwe's  speech  and  the  Elihu 
addresses  lived.  Most  probably  the  entire  book  was  pro- 
duced in  Palestine. 

II.  Messages  to  the  Contemporanes 

To  those  who  first  read  the  story  of  Job's  patience  under 
a  terrible  affliction  on  earth,  in  complete  ignorance  of  the 
wager  in  heaven,  and  of  the  reward  that  came  to  him  when 
he  had  endured  the  trial  of  his  faith  and  heaven's  confidence 
in  his  disinterested  service  had  been  vindicated,  there  must 
have  come  a  fresh  sense  of  the  value  set  on  character,  the 
dignity  of  calm  submission  to  the  inevitable,  the  worth  of 
the  soul  that  can  be  trusted,  the  certainty  that  whatever 
may  seem  wrong  will,  in  the  end,  be  righted.  While  it 
may  have  been  difficult  for  many  to  see  the  inadequacy  of 
the  view  so  stoutly  maintained  by  the  friends  of  Job,  or  to 
penetrate  through  the  tempest  of  excited  feeling,  rash 
words,  and  reckless  charges  to  the  eagerness  for  truth,  the 
anxiety  to  see  things  as  they  really  are,  the  longing  for 
foundations  that  shall  stand,  the  demand  for  truer  criteria 
by  which  to  judge,  the  yearning  for  an  ideal  that  can  be 
unreservedly  worshipped,  characteristic  of  Job  as  depicted 
in  the  dialogues,  there  were  no  doubt  those  whose  spiritual 
experience  had  prepared  them  to  watch  with  sympathy 
these  struggles  of  the  soul  for  a  more  satisfactory  inter- 
pretation of  life,  and  to  draw  from  the  stirring  spectacle 
loi 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

abiding  profit.  Not  in  vain  had  the  great  poet  laid  bare 
the  innermost  recesses  of  his  heart;  there  were  other 
hearts  that  understood  him.  The  singer  of  God's  power 
and  wisdom,  manifest  in  the  universe,  also  brought  a  mes- 
sage of  value  to  those  who  looked  out  with  curious  eyes, 
sharpened  by  the  growing  demand  for  comprehensive  and 
careful  observation,  upon  the  manifold  phenomena  of 
nature's  life.  They  were  forced  to  recognize  that  man  is 
but  a  part  of  nature,  and  that  no  problem  affecting  man's 
relations  can  be  ultimately  solved  without  regard  to  the 
whole  plan,  to  the  nature  of  things.  In  a  vague,  and  yet 
real,  way  this  must  have  come  home  to  them,  even  if  the 
author  disappointed  them,  as  he  does  us,  by  ignoring  the 
questions  at  issue,  and  by  failing  to  point  out  the  relations 
of  thought  that  may  have  presented  themselves  to  his  mind. 
So  also  the  addresses  of  Elihu,  with  all  their  comparative 
crudeness,  may  have  given  help  to  some  by  indicating  that 
the  whole  truth  had  not  been  uttered,  either  by  Job  or  his 
friends,  and  by  hinting  at  least  at  another  view -point,  from 
which  the  suffering  of  the  just  may  be  looked  upon  as  hav- 
ing an  educative  value. 

12.  Messages  to  Posterity 

A  work  like  this  belongs,  in  a  very  real  sense,  to  all  ages. 
It  is  interpreted  afresh  by  each  generation.  It  is  read  in 
the  light  of  its  own  peculiar  problems,  its  increased  mass 

I02 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

of  material  available  for  solving  them,  its  new  questions, 
its  growing  spiritual  experience.  There  came  a  time  when 
the  postulate  of  the  legend  and  of  the  friends  could  no 
longer  be  accepted,  and  the  idea  that  man's  accounts  are 
necessarily  squared  by  a  righteous  God  before  death 
was  very  generally  abandoned.  Men  found  relief  in  the 
thought  of  a  conscious  life  beyond  the  grave,  either  of  the 
soul  alone,  because  of  its  nature,  or  of  body  and  soul  to- 
gether, restored  by  a  resurrection,  and  in  the  conviction 
that  eternal  rewards  and  punishments  would  restore  the 
moral  equilibrium  and  vindicate  God's  justice.  They 
went  beyond  the  realm  of  visible  things  into  an  unseen 
world,  and  extended  to  all  the  countless  beings  within  its 
boundaries  the  same  inexorable  law  of  justice  whose  per- 
fect operation  may  be  denied  in  the  segment  but  not  in 
the  never-ending  circle.  It  was  possible  one  day  to  point 
out,  with  a  serenity  unclouded  by  any  doubt  or  question, 
how  the  sun  shines  on  the  just  and  the  unjust,  the  rain 
descends  on  the  bad  man's  field,  the  falling  tower  crushes 
under  its  weight  men  who  were  no  more  sinners  than  those 
that  escaped,  this  seeming  unconcern  about  retribution 
being  only  the  manifestation  of  a  heavenly  father's  im- 
partiality and  love,  drawing  his  children  to  repentance, 
these  things  of  the  passing  moment  having  no  importance 
when  put  in  the  balances  over  against  the  eternal  realities. 
For  the  Book  of  Job  had  prepared  the  way.  It  had 
loosened  the  connection .  between  the  external  circum- 
103 


Job — Introduction  The  Messages 

stances  of  earthly  life  and  character,  had  raised  to  primary 
importance  the  testimony  of  conscience,  had  hinted  at  the 
love  of  the  Creator  for  his  handiwork  as  the  most  plausible 
element  to  be  considered  in  the  problem  of  immortality, 
and  had  called  for  a  more  perfect  and  transcendent  con- 
ception of  the  divine  being.  The  new  faith  saw  itself  re- 
flected in  the  old  poem.  It  heard  from  the  lips  of  the  tried 
patriarch  its  own  grand  credo,  its  jubilant  affirmation  of  a 
divine  Redeemer's  love  and  a  glorious  resurrection  from 
the  dead.  The  pathos  of  the  fourteenth  chapter  was  not 
lost,  but  "Man  bom  of  woman"  could  be  recited  with 
I  Cor.  15  at  funerals,  where  the  survivors  did  not  mourn 
as  those  who  have  no  hope.  Thus  the  book  spoke,  while 
men  believed. 

When  a  new  age  began  to  test  the  foundations,  to  ques- 
tion again  the  adequacy  of  prevalent  conceptions,  as 
strongly  intrenched  as  those  had  been  which  were  dis- 
placed by  them,  the  Book  of  Job  brought  a  different 
message.  The  original  thought  came  back  in  its  simple 
grandeur,  its  terrible  urgency,  its  deep  significance.  It 
was  again  natural  for  the  mind  to  inquire  about  the  basis 
of  truth,  the  cause  of  suffering,  the  presence  of  a  design  in 
the  universe,  the  nature  of  ultimate  reality.  Traditional 
theories  no  longer  satisfied;  external  authority  was  no 
longer  binding;  the  loud  affirmations  of  the  mass  no  longer 
brought  assurance  to  the  individual.  Disease,  and  war, 
and  ravages  by  natural  forces  were  no  longer  thought  of 
104 


of  the  Poets  Job— Introduction 

as  divine  afflictions  or  as  unpreventable  evils;  the  percep- 
tion of  the  laws  of  heredity  rendered  it  impossible  to  assign 
the  responsibility  to  the  individual  for  all  that  befalls  him; 
the  idea  of  sin  ceased  to  have  the  dominating  position  it 
had  had  in  the  interpretation  of  life.  The  interest  shifted 
back  from  heaven  and  hell  to  earth  once  more;  the  life  of 
man,  short  though  it  be,  no  longer  seemed  so  infinites- 
imal, its  relations  and  conditions  so  unimportant,  as  when 
viewed  sub  specie  ceternitatis;  the  question  could  not  be 
suppressed  what  guarantee  men  have  that  perfect  justice 
will  be  meted  out  in  any  other  part  of  the  universe,  if  it 
is  not  in  the  only  world  of  which  they  have  any  knowl- 
edge; an  eternal  heaven  and  an  eternal  hell  seemed  wholly 
out  of  proportion  to  the  merits  or  demerits  of  a  short  life, 
and  therefore,  infinitely  more  unjust  than  any  exaggera- 
tion of  temporary  happiness  or  misfortune;  the  determina- 
tion of  Job  not  to  listen  too  eagerly  to  the  siren  song  of 
Elysian  fields,  but  to  abide  by  the  interpretation  imposed 
by  the  facts,  appeared  reasonable.  And  the  inmost  nature 
of  the  Great  Source,  the  ultimate  character  of  reality, 
could  no  longer  be  defined  in  the  terms  of  ancient  mythol- 
ogy or  creedal  statements.  Whether  the  universe  is  con- 
scious throughout,  and  with  a  consciousness  that  is  a  unit, 
or  consciousness  is  a  sporadic  efflorescence  where  the  con- 
ditions are  favorable;  whether  the  apparently  infinite  and 
exhaustless  energy  waits  on  an  intelligent  design  or  is 
only  incidentally  touched  by  consciously  exercised  will; 

105 


Job— Introduction  The  Messages 

and  whether  there  are  discernible  in  the  universe  outside 
of  man,  so  far  as  it  affects  his  destiny,  those  moral  qualities 
that  seem  to  man  the  highest,  were  questions  returning 
with  increased  force  because  of  the  closer  and  more  scien- 
tific knowledge  of  nature  which  had  been  gained.  Job 
spoke  to  the  modern  mind  as  he  had  never  spoken  before. 
It  is,  no  doubt,  true  that,  as  man  learns  how  to  adjust 
himself  to  nature,  control  and  utilize  its  forces,  and  enjoy 
its  wealth  and  beauty,  and  also  how  to  arrange  his  social 
relations  so  as  to  give  to  each  human  being  a  proper  edu- 
cation, suitable  work,  an  equitable  share  in  the  common 
wealth,  a  reasonable  freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  institu- 
tions, opportunity  for  personal  development,  and  security 
for  old  age,  the  universal  life  in  which  he  lives  and  moves 
and  has  his  being  will  seem  to  him  more  right  and  good. 
As  the  story  of  life  on  earth  and  in  the  heavens  unfolds,  the 
sense  of  the  unity  of  all  that  is  will  deepen,  the  conscious- 
ness of  mystery  will  increase  to  spur  the  intellect  and  to 
ennoble  the  heart,  while  the  impression  of  arbitrary  power 
and  irrationality  will  vanish.  But  long  ages  will  pass 
before  this  cry  ex  profundis  shall  have  ceased  to  bear  a 
message  of  present  significance  to  the  sons  of  men. 


io6 


of  ike  Poets  Job  i,  2,  42  :  7-17 


II 

PROLOGUE   AND   EPILOGUE 

(Chaps.  I,  2,  42  :  7-17) 

I.  The  Paraphrase 

There  was  a  man  in  the  land  of  Uz  by  the  name  of  Job. 
He  was  righteous  and  God-fearing,  and  so  prosperous 
that  he  was  regarded  as  the  greatest  of  all  the  Bene  Kedem. 
His  piety  was  such  that  whenever  his  sons  held  a  feast  and 
invited  their  sisters  to  eat  and  drink  with  them,  he  would 
rise  early  in  the  morning  and  offer  a  burnt  offering  for  each 
of  them,  to  atone  for  any  sin  committed,  or  word  offensive 
to  God  spoken,  under  the  influence  of  their  gayety.  The 
case  of  this  man  was  brought  up  one  day  in  the  heavenly 
council,  when  the  sons  of  God  presented  themselves  before 
Yahwe,  and  Satan  was  among  them.  To  Yahwe's  ques- 
tion whence  he  had  come,  Satan  answered  that  he  had 
been  walking  up  and  down  in  the  earth.  When  Yahwe 
asked  him  if  he  had  also  observed  his  servant  Job,  a  more 
righteous  and  pious  man  than  any  other  in  all  the  earth, 
Satan  suggested  that  there  was  good  reason  for  his  excel- 
lent behavior,  as  Yahwe  had  made  him  very  rich,  but  that 
he  would  surely  renounce  his  God  if  his  wealth  were 
taken  away  from  him.  Yahwe  then  gave  Satan  permis- 
sion to  touch  his  property,  but  not  his  person.  As  a  con- 
107 


Job  I,  2,  42  :  7-17  The  Messages 

sequence  of  this  scene  in  heaven,  blow  after  blow  fell  upon 
Job.  Sabasans  robbed  him  of  his  oxen  and  slew  the  ser- 
vants; the  lightning  struck  the  sheep  and  killed  the  shep- 
herds; three  bands  of  Chaldaeans  took  away  the  camels 
and  put  to  death  the  young  men  caring  for  them;  and  a 
great  desert  storm  upset  the  house  where  his  sons  and 
daughters  were  feasting  and  they  were  all  killed.  Job, 
then,  rent  his  mantle  and  shaved  his  head.  Prostrating 
himself  upon  the  ground,  he  worshipped,  humbly  acknowl- 
edging that  he  had  brought  nothing  with  him  into  the 
world  and  would  not  bring  anything  out  of  it.  He 
blessed  the  name  of  Yahwe,  who  gives  and  takes  away, 
according  to  his  own  pleasure.  Thus  he  uttered  no  sinful 
word  of  criticism  or  complaint. 

At  another  council  in  heaven  Yahwe  called  the  atten- 
tion of  Satan  to  the  fact  that  Job  still  held  fast  to  his 
integrity,  and  that  Satan  therefore  had  incited  him  to 
destroy  Job  without  cause.  Satan,  however,  maintained 
that  a  man  may  be  willing  to  give  up  everything  that  be- 
longs to  him,  so  it  does  not  affect  his  own  body.  Satan 
was  therefore  granted  the  right  to  aflflict  him  with  disease, 
but  he  must  spare  his  life.  He  smote  him  with  leprosy. 
The  itching  of  the  many  sores  with  which  he  was  covered 
from  head  to  foot  made  him  scratch  himself  with  a  pot- 
sherd where  he  sat  among  the  ashes.  Yet  when  his  wife 
told  him  to  renounce  God  and  die,  he  rebuked  her  for 
speaking  so  foolishly,  since  it  was  man's  evident  duty  to 
io8 


of  the  Poets  Job  i,  2,  42  :  7-17 

receive  evil  from  the  hand  of  God  in  the  spirit  of  patient 
submission,  as  well  as  to  receive  good  with  gratitude. 
Thus  he  did  not  sin  even  with  his  lips. 

Job  had  three  friends,  Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  Bildad 
the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite.  When  they 
heard  of  all  this  evil  that  had  befallen  Job,  they  came  to 
comfort  him.  Having  shown  their  sympathy  by  weeping, 
rending  their  garments,  and  sprinkling  dust  upon  their 
heads,  they  sat  in  silence  for  seven  days,  and  then  spoke. 
To  their  words  Job  made  answer,  and  finally  Yahwe  him- 
self spoke.  His  judgment  was  that  his  servant  Job  had 
spoken  the  thing  that  was  right  concerning  him.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  was  so  angry  with  his  three  friends  that 
their  lives  were  in  danger.  Yet  he  was  willing  to  spare 
them,  if  his  servant  Job  would  pray  for  them,  as  they 
offered  their  burnt  offerings  to  atone  for  their  sins.  The 
affliction  of  Job  ceased,  when  he  thus  prayed  for  those  who 
had  attacked  him  and  spoken  wrongly  concerning  Yahwe. 
His  brothers,  sisters,  and  other  acquaintances  came  back, 
and  gave  him  as  an  atonement  for  the  wrong  they  had 
done  in  leaving  him  each  a  piece  of  money  and  a  ring  of 
gold.  Job  became  richer  than  he  had  ever  been,  had 
seven  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  died  at  the  ripe  old 
age  of  one  hundred  and  forty  years. 


109 


Job  I,  2,  42  :  7-17  The  Messages 

2.  The  Notes 

A  part  of  the  prose  story  has  been  lost,  the  dialogues 
and  the  speech  of  Yahwe,  as  given  in  the  present  text 
having  taken  its  place.  But  the  beginning  of  the  epi- 
logue (42  :  7  ff.)  shows  what  the  tenor  of  the  original  ad- 
dresses must  have  been,  as  has  been  indicated  in  the  intro- 
duction to  the  book.  The  "sons  of  God"  were  probably 
understood,  at  the  time  the  story  was  written,  as  angels. 
Originally  the  term,  according  to  general  Semitic  usage, 
denoted  the  members  of  the  class  of  Elohim,  or  gods.  It 
is  not  probable  that  Satan  was  ever  a  member  of  this  circle 
of  gods,  that  he  once  was  regarded  as  a  divine  being. 
After  the  sons  of  God,  owing  to  the  movement  toward 
monotheism,  had  been  degraded  to  the  rank  of  ministering 
spirits,  or  messengers  sent  by  the  highest  god,  Yahwe,  one 
of  them  was  thought  of  as  the  opponent,  the  public  prose- 
cutor, as  it  were,  accusing  men  in  Israel  whom  he  regarded 
as  having  sinned.  In  this  light  he  appears  in  Zech.  3  :  i, 
where  he  accuses  Joshua,  the  high  priest.  Later  his  func- 
tion was  apparently  extended  to  all  men,  and  he  goes  up 
and  down  in  the  earth,  observing  men's  failings  and  re- 
porting them  on  high.  He  also  seems  to  have  become 
chief  executioner,  doing  many  things  which  formerly  were 
ascribed  to  Yahwe  himself,  but  a  more  transcendental 
conception  of  the  deity  preferred  to  assign  to  a  subordinate. 
It  is  to  be  observed  that  he  also  incites  Yahwe  to  do  what 
no 


of  the  Poets  Job  i,  2,  42  :  7-17 

he  afterwards  regrets.  Under  the  influence,  no  doubt,  of 
Persian  dualism,  he  gradually  grew  into  a  formidable 
power  of  evil  and  prince  of  darkness.  But  that  is  not  yet 
his  position  in  the  prose  story.  The  means  that  Satan  uses 
to  impoverish  Job,  after  the  divine  permission  has  been 
granted,  are  partly  marauding  bands  of  Sabaeans  and 
Chaldaeans,  partly  natural  agencies,  like  the  lightning  and 
the  fierce  desert  storm,  partly  disease.  In  all  these  realms 
Satan  can  exercise  his  activity.  The  particular  disease 
that  strikes  Job  is  the  elephantiasis.  Leprosy  was  a  term 
covering  many  cutaneous  diseases.  This  was  the  worst 
form  of  leprosy,  deemed  incurable.  The  preventive  burnt 
offering  shows  not  only  a  strong  faith  in  the  efficacy  of 
sacrifices,  bat  also  advanced  speculation  on  the  subject. 
There  must  have  been  some  circles  in  which  a  truly  pious 
man  was  expected  to  offer  sacrifices  for  others  before  they 
had  sinned,  in  order  to  hold  back  the  hand  ready  to  strike 
immediately  the  guilty  party.  The  reason  why  Satan  was 
left  out  of  the  epilogue  may  have  been  some  rebuke  ad- 
ministered to  him. by  Yahwe,  implying  even  more  clearly 
than  the  reference  in  the  prologue  Yahwe's  anger  and  re- 
gret at  having  been  betrayed  by  Satan's  cleverness  into 
such  harsh  treatment  of  his  faithful  servant.  Possibly 
Job's  wife  was  not  mentioned  because,  like  the  others,  she 
would  have  had  to  make  an  offering,  but  as  a  woman  was 
not  considered  fit  to  offer  a  sacrifice.  There  may  be  a 
certain  admission  of  wrong  done  to  Job  in  the  doubling  of 
III 


Job  3  The  Messages 

his  wealth.  A  similar  thought  had  been  expressed  by  the 
author  of  Isa.  40  fif.  when  he  declared  that  Israel  had  been 
punished  doubly  by  the  hand  of  Yahwe  for  all  its  trans- 
gressions, and  therefore  could  with  greater  assurance  look 
forward  to  more  than  a  restoration  of  its  former  prosperity. 
The  prologue,  as  it  now  stands,  brings  vividly  before  us 
the  principal  characters  of  the  book.  Job  is  shown  to  be  a 
genuinely  righteous,  innocent  man,  subjected  to  the  severest 
tests  that  a  human  being  can  endure,  in  order  that  he  may 
prove  the  existence  of  disinterested  righteousness.  He  does 
not  know  that  he  is  undergoing  such  a  test,  nor  do  his 
friends,  who  love  and  honor  him  at  the  start,  but  who  take 
for  granted  that  these  accumulated  misfortunes  are  signs 
of  wickedness,  and  therefore  are  in  a  state  of  extreme  per- 
plexity. 


Ill 

job's  lament 

(Chap.  3) 

I.  The  Translation 

May  God  Perish  the  day  when  I  was  born, 

^f  mVblrth''  The  night  that  said,  ''Behold  a  man!" 

^3  :  3-10)  In  darkness  let  that  night  be  hid, 

And  look  for  light  that  never  comes. 
112 


of  the  Poets  J^^  3 

Let  God  not  seek  it  from  on  high, 
And  let  no  light  upon  it  shine. 
Let  gloom  and  blackness  claim  their  own, 
Let  it  be  covered  by  the  clouds. 

May  dread  eclipses  terror  bring, 
Darkness  itself  drag  it  away. 
Give  it  no  place  in  the  year's  days, 
Let  it  not  come  while  the  months  pass. 

O  let  that  night  be  barrenness, 
No  shout  of  joy  be  heard  in  it. 
Let  cursers  of  the  day  curse  it. 
Those  skilled  to  stir  Leviathan. 

Let  all  the  stars  be  dark  that  night, 
None  greet  the  eyelids  of  the  dawn; 
For  it  shut  not  my  mother's  womb. 
Nor  hid  Hfe's  misery  from  my  eyes. 

Why  did  I  not  die  in  the  womb;  Why^did  l^ 

Or  come  from  it  and  pass  away?  birth  into  the 

.  ^  peace  oi 

Why  were  there  knees  to  welcome  me  (  death  ?^ 

Why  were  there  breasts  for  me  to  suck?  ^^  '  "''^ 

Then  should  I  have  lain  down  to  rest, 
I  should  have  slept  and  been  in  peace. 
With  kings  and  rulers  of  the  earth 
Who  built  themselves  great  pyramids, 
113 


Job  3 


The  Messages 


Why  does 
God  permit 
men  to  live 
on  in  help- 
less misery? 
(3  :  20-26) 


Or  with  the  princes  rich  in  gold, 
With  silver  filling  their  abodes. 
The  wicked  trouble  there  no  more, 
And  there  the  weary  are  at  rest. 

The  prisoners  are  there  at  ease, 
They  hear  not  the  taskmaster's  voice; 
Lowly  and  high  there  are  the  same. 
And  from  his  lord  the  slave  is  free. 

Why  gives  he  light  to  wretched  men, 
And  life  to  those  of  bitter  soul; 
Who  wait  for  death  and  it  comes  not; 
Who  sigh  for  it  as  for  a  prize; 

Who  would  rejoice  to  have  a  mound. 
Exult  if  they  could  find  a  tomb; 
To  one  whose  destiny  is  hid. 
And  whom  the  Most  High  hedges  in  ? 

Fear  I  a  thing,  it  seizes  me, 
And  what  I  dread  upon  me  falls. 
I  have  not  yet  recovered  peace. 
Or  rest,  or  ease,  when  anguish  comes. 


114 


of  the  Poets  Job  3 

2.  The  Notes 
The  great  work  of  the  poet  of  the  colloquies  begins  with 
a  touching  elegy,  in  which  Job  expresses  a  wish  that  he 
had  never  been  born.  His  birthday  is  personified  and 
cursed.  If  it  cannot  be  driven  away  from  the  days  of  the 
year  by  darkness  and  terrible  eclipses,  let  such  an  evil 
spell  be  cast  upon  it  by  conjurers  that  it  shall  never  usher 
a  human  being  into  life.  Leviathan  is  the  great  sea- 
serpent,  the  monster  living  in  the  primeval  ocean;  and 
this  serpent  evidently  can  cause  eclipses  and  leave  a  day 
in  utter  darkness.  There  are  magicians  skilful  enough 
to  stir  up  this  monster.  If  none  of  the  stars  come  out  dur- 
ing that  night,  there  will  be  none  to  watch,  with  fading 
light,  the  appearance  of  the  dawn,  conceived  of  as  a  god- 
dess with  beautiful  eyelids.  There  should  be  no  light  of 
any  kind  on  a  day  so  guilty  of  wrong  in  giving  life  to  one 
who  should  not  have  been  born.  He  ought  never  to  have 
issued  from  the  womb,  or  been  given  nourishment.  He 
should  have  been  left  to  a  peace  as  deep  as  that  of  the  dead, 
great  or  small,  who  no  longer  trouble  or  are  troubled. 
Why  should  life  have  been  given  at  all  to  the  class  of 
wretched  men  whose  condition  is  such  that  they  ask  for 
no  higher  boon  than  death  ?  Especially  why  should  one 
like  himself  have  been  thrown  into  the  world  to  whom 
the  future  is  so  dark  and  who  is  kept  by  God  himself  a 
prisoner  within  a  narrow  space  where  fear  and  anguish 
hold  their  sway  and  whence  there  is  no  escape  ? 
115 


Job  4-14  The  Messages 

This  lament  states  the  problem  in  the  most  forcible 
manner,  and  serves  as  the  natural  starting-point  for  the 
discussion  which  follows.  Job  speaks  out  of  the  depths  of 
anguish  and  uncertainty.  His  utterance  is  impassioned. 
It  is  an  appeal,  a  protest,  not  an  argument.  It  has  the 
force  of  showing  the  friends  that  Job  is  not  submissive  to 
God,  but  in  an  angry  or,  at  least,  a  questioning  mood.  So, 
in  their  different  ways,  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar  seek 
to  cause  Job  to  realize  that  these  sorrows  are  from  God, 
with  whom  in  some  way  he  has  become  estranged. 

IV 

FIRST  CYCLE  OF  DIALOGUES 

(Chaps.  4-14) 

I.  The  Translation 
(i)  Eliphaz^ s  Discourse  {chaps.  4-5) 

Has  your  May  one  to  the  disheartened  speak? 

piety  faifed  Yet  who  can  here  withhold  his  words? 

you  at  kst?  rj.^^^  j^^g^  ^j^yggjj  instructed  men. 

Hast  given  strength  to  feeble  hands. 

Thy  words  have  raised  the  fallen  up. 
Knees  that  were  bent  thou  hast  made  strong. 
Thou  faintest  when  it  comes  to  thee; 
It  touches  thee,  thou  art  amazed. 
116 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


Is  not  thy  piety  thy  trust, 
Thy  upright  life  thy  confidence? 
Who  ever  perished  without  guilt? 
Where  was  the  righteous  man  destroyed? 

To  me  a  word  came  once  by  stealth; 
The  whisper  of  it  caught  my  ear 
In  dreams,  in  visions  of  the  night, 
When  deep  sleep  falls  on  sons  of  men. 

Terror  and  trembling  on  me  fell; 
My  very  bones  were  thrilled  with  fear. 
A  spirit  moved  before  my  face, 
The  hair  upon  my  body  rose. 

A  form  appeared  before  my  eyes, 
I  could  not  see  its  countenance. 
Near  me  it  stood  in  majesty 
And  silence — then  a  voice  I  heard: 

"Can  man  be  just  before  his  God, 
Before  his  maker  man  be  pure? 
His  heavenly  host  he  cannot  trust. 
With  his  own  angels  he  finds  fault, 

"More,  then,  with  dwellers  in  the  clay. 
Whose  homes  are  founded  on  the  dust. 
More  quickly  crushed  than  is  a  moth 
That  perishes  'twixt  morn  and  eve, 
117 


In  a  vision 
of  the  night 
God  revealed 
to  me  His 
transcen- 
dental holi- 
ness and 
majesty,  and 
man's  sinful 
nature 
(4  :  12-21) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


The  foolish 
gain  nothing 
but  destruc- 
tion 
(5  :  1-7) 


Submit  your 
cause  to  God, 
who  deals 
wisely  with 
mankind 
(S  :  8-16) 


"Destroyed,  with  no  one  noticing, 
Vanished  and  gone  forevermore ; 
If  the  tent-cord  is  plucked  away. 
They  die,  but  not  as  wise  men  die." 

As  for  the  fool,  his  wrath  kills  him, 
By  passion  is  the  simple  slain. 
I  saw  myself  a  fool  take  root, 
His  habitation  quickly  rot. 

Far  from  all  aid  his  children  are. 
Without  a  helper  they  are  crushed. 
Whoever  hungers  eats  their  grain. 
Whoever  thirsts  draws  from  their  well. 

But  I,  I  would  the  Most  High  seek, 
To  God  I  would  submit  my  cause. 
Who  does  great  things  past  finding  out, 
And  miracles  no  man  can  count, 

To  set  on  high  the  lowly  ones. 
And  raise  to  safety  those  that  mourn; 
Who  overthrows  the  shrewd  men's  plan, 
That  their  hands  can  accomplish  naught; 

Who  in  their  cunning  snares  the  wise. 
The  crafty  overreach  themselves, 
They  meet  with  darkness  in  the  day, 
As  in  the  night  they  grope  at  noon; 
118 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


But  who  the  weak  saves  from  the  sword, 
And  from  the  strong  man's  arm  the  poor. 
Then  for  the  needy  there  is  hope, 
Iniquity  must  shut  its  mouth. 

Blessed  the  man  whom  God  corrects. 
Spurn  not  the  chastening  of  the  Lord. 
For  he  can  wound  and  bind  it  up. 
Bruise,  and  his  hands  can  heal  again. 

Out  of  six  troubles  he  will  save. 
In  seven  shall  no  ill  touch  thee; 
In  famine  he  from  death  redeems, . 
In  war  from  power  of  the  sword. 

In  pestilence  thou  shalt  be  hid, 

Nor  shalt  thou  devastation  fear; 

With  the  field's  stones  thou  art  in  league, 

The  wild  beasts  are  at  peace  with  thee. 

Thou  shalt  see  how  thy  tent  is  safe. 
Miss  nothing,  looking  o'er  thy  house. 
Thou  shalt  see  how  thy  seed  spreads  forth. 
Thy  offspring  like  the  earth's  green  grass. 

Thou  ^shalt  %o  hence  in  ripe  old  age, 
As  a  sheaf  garnered  in  its  time, 
Lo,  this  we  searched  out;  so  it  is; 
So  we  have  heard,  and  know  thou  this, 
119 


His  chasten- 
ing hand  will 
bring  thee  to 
peace,  right- 
eousness, 
and  happi- 
ness 
(5  :  17-27) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


My  calami- 
ties are  un- 
bearable; 
God  seems 
to  be  attack- 
ing me;   O 
that  he 
would  de- 
stroy me  in 
my  helpless- 
ness 
(6  :  1-14) 


(2)  JoVs  Reply  {chaps.  6-7) 

O  that  my  anger  could  be  weighed, 
And  my  fate  balanced  against  it! 
'Twould  sink  as  deep  as  ocean's  sand. 
On  this  account  my  words  were  rash. 

For  by  God's  arrows  I  am  shot; 
Their  poison  has  my  spirit  sucked. 
God's  terrors  me  confusion  bring; 
My  soul  refuses  to  find  rest. 

Does  the  wild  ass  bray  o'er  the  grass? 
Does  the  ox  o'er  his  fodder  low? 
Is  without  salt  the  tasteless  used? 
Is  savor  in  an  egg's  white  left? 

O  that  my  prayer  would  answered  be, 
That  God  would  grant  me  my  desire, 
That  he  would  choose  to  crush  me  now, 
That  swifdy  he  would  cut  me  off! 

A  comfort  this  would  be  to  me, 
Unsparing  pain  would  give  me  joy. 
What  strength  have  I  to  bear  it  now? 
What  is  my  end,  if  I  endure? 

Is  then  my  strength  the  strength  of  stones. 
And  is  my  body  made  of  brass? 

I2Q 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


Behold,  I  have  no  hope  at  all; 
Prosperity  is  driven  forth. 


My  friends  are  faithless  as  a  brook, 
A  river  rising  o'er  its  bed: 

Becoming  turbid  when  it  melts, 
When  in  it  hides  the  falling  snow. 

When  summer  comes,  they  disappear, 
When  it  grows  hot,  they  swiftly  pass; 
Wayfarers  leave  accustomed  roads, 
Go  to  the  waste,  and  perish  there. 


Ye,  my 

friends,  are 
as  disap- 
pointing as 
the  river- 
beds which 
entice  the 
travellers 
only  to  de- 
lude them 
(6  :  15-20) 


The  caravans  of  Teima  look, 
Sabaeans  set  their  hope  on  them; 
Their  confidence  brings  them  to  shame. 
They  search  the  spot  and  are  deceived. 


Have  I  perchance  said:  ''Give  to  me. 
Out  of  your  wealth  bring  forth  for  me; 
Deliver  me  from  foeman's  hand. 
Redeem  me  from  oppressor's  power"? 

Teach  me  and  I  will  hold  my  tongue, 
And  what  I  erred  make  plain  to  me. 
How  sweet  are  words  of  upright  men! 
But  what  does  your  upbraiding  prove? 
121 


Explain  to 
me  wherein 
I  have  really 
been  at  fault; 
I  will  deal 
fairly  with 
you 
(6  :  21-29) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


Something  is 
radically 
wrong.     I 
live  in 
wretched- 
ness, day 
and  night, 
helpless  and 
hopeless 
(6  :  30-7  :  lo) 


Is  all  your  aim  to  censure  words? 
Cries  of  despair  are  for  the  wind. 
Ye  fall  upon  a  righteous  man, 
Yea,  even  rush  upon  your  friend. 

But  now  be  pleased  to  look  at  me. 
I  surely  will  not  lie  to  you. 
Turn  ere  ye  do  an  unjust  deed, 
Turn,  for  I  still  maintain  my  right. 

Is  there  injustice  on  my  tongue? 
Cannot  my  palate  taste  what's  wrong? 
Has  not  a  hard  time  man  on  earth? 
Is  not  his  life  a  hireling's  life? 

Like  servant  panting  for  the  shade, 
Like  hireling  looking  for  his  wage; 
So  am  I  heir  to  months  of  ill, 
And  nights  of  misery  are  my  lot. 

If  I  lie  down  to  sleep,  I  say: 
"When  comes  the  day  that  I  may  rest?" 
And  if  I  rise:  "When  comes  the  night?" 
Sated  with  unrest  till  it  dawns. 

My  flesh  is  clothed  with  worms  and  clod; 
My  skin  heals  up,  breaks  out  again. 
Like  weaver's  shuttle  are  my  days, 
They  pass  without  a  ray  of  hope, 

122 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


A  breath,  remember,  is  my  life; 
Mine  eyes  shall  never  see  a  change. 
No  eye  of  friend  shall  me  behold, 
Thine  own  eye  seek  me  all  in  vain. 

The  cloud  has  vanished  and  is  gone; 
None  from  the  nether  v^^orld  comes  back, 
Or  to  his  house  returns  again. 
His  place  shall  find  him  never  more. 

Therefore  my  mouth  I'll  not  restrain, 
Will  in  my  spirit's  anguish  speak. 
Am  I  the  Sea,  the  Chaos-born, 
That  over  me  thou  watchest  thus? 

My  bed,  I  think,  shall  comfort  me. 
My  couch  shall  help  me  in  distress. 
Then  thou  dost  trouble  me  with  dreams, 
With  visions  terrifiest  me. 

Rather  than  this  I  would  be  choked. 
Despising  death  more  than  my  pains. 
I  cannot  live  forevermore. 
My  life's  a  breath — let  me  alone! 

What's  man  that  thou  shouldst  honor  him, 
That  thou  shouldst  set  thy  heart  on  him, 
That  thou  shouldst  visit  him  each  day. 
That  thou  shouldst  test  him  all  the  time? 
123 


Why,  O 

God, 
shouldst 
thou  visit 
me  inces- 
santly in 
this  manner; 
cannot  I  be 
pardoned 
before  I  die  ? 
(7  :  11-21) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


When  wilt  thou  look  away  from  me? 
Let  go  while  I  may  catch  my  breath. 
A  target  thou  hast  made  of  me. 
Have  I  a  burden  been  to  thee? 

Why  canst  thou  not  blot  out  my  sin, 
And  take  my  guilt  away  from  me? 
For  now  I  lay  me  in  the  dust, 
When  thou  shalt  seek  me,  I  am  gone. 


How  pre- 
posterous to 
question 
God's  jus- 
tice !     He 
deals  gener- 
ously with 
every  right- 
eous man 
(8  :  1-7) 


(3)  Bildad's  Discourse  (chap.  8) 

How  long  wilt  thou  repeat  such  things? 
Thy  words  are  but  a  mighty  wind. 
Will  God  himself  pervert  the  right. 
Justice  the  Almighty  corrupt?  ' 

If  against  him  thy  sons  have  sinned, 
And  he  has  punished  their  wrong  acts, 
Thou  then  shouldst  earnestly  seek  God, 
Make  supplication  for  his  grace. 


If  thou  art  truly  pure  and  just, 
He  will  restore  thy  prosperous  home; 
Then  though  thy  start  be  very  small. 
He  makes  thy  end  exceeding  great. 
124 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


For  ask  the  generations  past, 
Note  what  the  fathers  have  searched  out. 
Of  yesterday  we  are,  know  naught, 
A  shadow  are  our  days  on  earth. 

"Does  without  mire  papyrus  grow? 
Does  without  water  Nile -grass  thrive? 
When  green,  not  yet  for  cutting  ripe, 
It  dries  up,  sooner  than  all  herbs. 

"Such  is  the  end  of  godless  men, 
Thus  perishes  the  hope  they  have. 
The  fool  relies  on  fragile  threads, 
His  trust  is  in  a  spider's  web. 

"He  leans  upon  his  house — it  yields; 
He  seizes  hold  of  it — it  falls. 
He  stands  in  sunshine,  full  of  sap. 
Over  his  garden  sprouts  shoot  forth; 

"Around  the  fountain  are  his  roots, 
He  grows  up  in  a  house  of  stone. 
If  from  his  place  he  is  cut  off, 
*  I  never  saw  thee,'  it  exclaims. 

"This  is  the  end  his  life  will  take, 
And  others  from  the  dust  will  rise; 
Lo,  God  will  not  despise  the  just. 
Nor  will  he  hold  the  bad  man's  hand." 
125 


All  the  wis- 
dom of  the 
past  teaches 
the  sad  fate 
of  godless 
men 
(8  : 8-18) 


And  that  the 
righteous 
will  rejoice 
(8  :  19-22) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


With  laughter  he  will  fill  thy  mouth, 
With  songs  of  gladness  fill  thy  lips. 
Thy  haters  will  be  clothed  with  shame, 
The  wicked  have  their  tents  no  more. 


I  acknowl- 
edge that 
man  cannot 
equal  God  in 
wisdom  or 
in  power;  I 
cannot  make 
him  answer 
me 
(9  : 1-16) 


(4)  JoVs  Reply  (chaps.  9-10) 

Truly  I  know  that  it  is  so. 
How  could  a  man  be  just  with  God? 
If  he  his  questions  should  propound, 
Not  one  of  thousand  could  he  meet. 

Wise  is  his  mind  and  great  his  strength. 
Who  can  defy  him  and  be  safe? 
He  mountains  unawares  removes. 
He  overturns  them  in  his  wrath. 

He  shakes  the  earth  out  of  its  place. 
And  makes  its  pillars  reel  and  sway; 
Speaks  to  the  sun — it  shines  no  more. 
And  puts  a  seal  upon  the  stars. 

He  stretched  the  heavens  all  alone. 
Walked  on  the  high  waves  of  the  sea; 
Ursa  and  Sirius  he  made, 
Orion  and  the  Southern  Cross. 

He  passes  me — I  see  him  not; 
He  glides  by — I  perceive  him  not; 
126 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


He  seizes — who  can  hold  him  back, 
Or  say  to  him:  *'What  doest  thou?" 

God  does  not  hold  his  fury  back: 
Beneath  him  friends  of  Rahab  bowed. 
How  much  less  then  could  I  reply, 
Or  choose  the  proper  words  with  him? 

Though  just,  I  would  no  answer  have, 
Must  plead  for  favors  from  my  judge. 
He  would  not  answer,  though  I  cried, 
I  could  not  trust  he  heard  my  voice. 


He  overturns  me  with  a  storm. 
And  without  cause  inflicts  his  blows. 
He  gives  my  spirit  no  release. 
With  bitterness  he  fills  my  cup. 

In  test  of  strength  he  has  the  power; 
In  judgment,  who  sets  him  a  term  ? 
Though  I  am  just,  his  mouth  condemns, 
Though  upright,  he  oppresses  me. 


He  seems  to 
use  his 
pleasure  on 
good  and 
bad  alike; 
we  have  no 
common 
ground,  no 
arbiter,  be- 
fore whom  I 
can  plead 
(9  :  17-35) 


Upright  I  am — I  reck  not  life. 
Despise  existence.     'Tis  the  same. 
Just  and  unjust  he  brings  to  naught. 
If  'tis  not  he,  who  is  it  then? 
127 


Job  4-14  The  Messages 

If  sudden  pestilence  brings  death, 
The  guiltless  perish,  and  he  laughs. 
The  earth  is  to  the  wicked  given, 
He  veils  the  countenance  of  the  judge. 

My  days  are  like  a  runner  swift, 
They  flee  away  and  see  no  good. 
Pap)Tus-vessel  like  they  speed, 
Like  eagles  swooping  on  their  prey. 

Said  I:  "I  will  forget  my  grief, 
Let  go,  and  seek  a  moment's  cheer." 
All  I  have  suffered  tortures  me, 
I  know  he  will  not  speak  me  free. 

If  in  the  snow  I  wash  myself, 

And  if  I  cleanse  my  hands  with  lye, 

Into  the  dirt  he  plunges  me. 

So  that  my  friends  abhor  my  sight. 

For  he  is  not  a  man  like  me, 

That  we. might  both  be  brought  to  court. 

There  is  no  arbiter  'twixt  us 

To  put  his  hand  upon  us  both, 

To  turn  from  me  his  ruler's  staff, 
That  fear  of  him  unman  me  not. 
That  I  might  speak,  nothing  afraid. 
For  in  myself  I  am  not  thus. 
128 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


I  am  so  weary  of  my  life, 
My  plaint  against  him  I  pour  out. 
I  say  to  God:  "Thou  must  not  damn! 
Tell  me  why  thou  opposest  me." 

Does  it  seem  good  to  torture  me, 
Despise  the  work  of  thy  own  hands? 
Hast  thou  the  eyes  of  carnal  man. 
And  dost  thou  see  as  a  man  sees, 

That  thou  must  seek  my  wickedness. 
And  search  to  find  my  hidden  sin  ? 
Thou  knowest  well  I  have  not  sinned, 
And  in  my  hand  there  is  no  guilt. 

Thy  hands  have  formed  and  fashioned  me, 
Why  then  wilt  thou  destroy  me  now? 
Remember,  thou  hast  formed  this  clay. 
Wilt  thou  again  turn  me  to  dust? 

Hast  thou  not  poured  me  out  as  milk. 
Churned  me  together  as  a  cheese, 
Covered  me  o'er  with  flesh  and  skin, 
Put  bones  and  sinews  through  my  frame  ? 

Thou  gav'st  me  life,  and  joy  of  life. 
Thy  providence  watched  o'er  my  breath. 
And  this  thou  hiddest  in  thy  heart. 
I  know  it — this  has  been  thy  plan: 
129 


Why,  O 

God,  dost 
thou  op- 
press one 
whom  thou 
knowest  to 
be  without 
sin 
(10  :  1-7) 


Didst  thou 
fashion  me 
and  give  me 
life  in  order 
to  exhibit 
thy  power  ? 
(10  :  8-17) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


Why  didst 
thou  not  let 
me  die  at 
birth? 
(10  :  18-22) 


If  I  should  fail,  thou  then  wouldst  watch, 
And  not  redeem  me  from  my  guilt. 
If  I  should  sin,  woe  then  to  me! 
I  might  not  lift  my  hand,  though  just. 

Thy  wonders  thou  wouldst  show  on  me, 
Fresh  witnesses  against  me  call, 
Make  greater  still  thy  wrath  at  me, 
And  place  new  burdens  on  my  back. 

Why  didst  thou  bring  me  from  the  womb? 
I  might  have  breathed  my  last  unseen. 
As  one  not  born,  I  might  have  been, 
Carried  from  womb  to  sepulchre. 

Is  not  my  lifetime  short  enough? 
Let  me  alone  to  have  some  cheer, 
Ere  I  must  go  whence  none  return, 
To  realms  of  darkness  and  of  gloom. 


Would  that 
God  might 
answer  such 
a  boastful 
self-justifierl 
(II  :  i-S) 


(5)  Zophar's  Discourse  {chap.  11) 

Shall  this  windbag  unanswered  be, 

A  man  of  lips  be  in  the  right? 

Shall  these  thy  babblings  silence  men. 

That  thou  mayst  mock,  none  shaming  thee. 

And  say,  "Reproachless  is  my  life. 
And  clean  am  I  in  my  own  eyes?  " 
130 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


But,  O  that  God  himself  would  speak, 
And  open  against  thee  his  lips, 

Make  known  to  thee  how  wise  he  is, 
How  wonderful  his  reason  is! 
Canst  thou  search  out  the  deeps  of  God? 
Canst  thou  reach  the  Almighty's  bounds? 

Higher  than  heaven,  what  canst  thou  do? 
Lower  than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know? 
Longer  the  measure  than  the  earth. 
Wider  it  is  than  all  the  sea. 

If  he  pass  by  and  apprehend, 
And  bring  to  court,  who  can  prevent? 
For  he  knows  who  the  wicked  are. 
And  sees  and  marks  iniquity. 


His  wisdom 
is  incompre- 
hensible; his 
knowledge 
of  sin  com- 
plete 
(11  :  6-12) 


But  if  thou  wilt  direct  thy  heart. 
And  unto  him  spread  forth  thy  hands. 
If  far  from  wrong  thy  hand  remain, 
And  in  thy  tent  no  evil  dwell, 

Then  thou  mayst  spotless  lift  thy  face. 
Be  firm  and  without  slightest  fear. 
For  then  thou  shalt  forget  thy  ills. 
Recalling  them  as  winters  past. 


Confess  thy 
sins  to  him 
and  thou 
shalt  have 
forgiveness, 
prosperity, 
and  peace 
(11  :  13-20) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


Brighter  than  noon  shall  be  thy  life, 
Darkness  itself  shall  be  like  morn. 
Thou  shalt  feel  safe,  for  there  is  hope, 
Lie  down  with  neither  fear  nor  sighs. 

The  naultitudes  shall  flatter  thee; 
Eyes  of  the  wicked  shall  grow  dim. 
For  refuge  they  no  more  shall  have. 
Their  hope  is  to  give  up  the  ghost. 


Ye  assume 
to  know  the 
truth,  but  I, 
too,  have 
intelligence 
(12  :  1-13) 


God  does 
with  the 
world  and 
its  occupants 
as  he  will;  I 
have  per- 
ceived this 
(12: 14-13:2) 


(6)  JoVs  Reply  {chaps.  12-14) 

Ye  are  the  people,  verily. 

And  wisdom — it  will  die  with  you! 

But  I  can  reason  as  you  can, 

And  who  does  not  know  things  like  these? 

Does  not  the  ear  examine  words? 
Does  not  the  palate  taste  the  food? 
Does  wisdom,  then,  consist  in  years. 
And  judgment  in  the  length  of  days? 

Lo,  he  tears  down,  and  who  builds  up? 
He  shuts,  who  opens  for  a  man  ? 
He  checks  the  waters — they  dry  up; 
He  lets  them  loose— they  waste  the  earth. 

With  him  are  strength  and  deep  insight. 
His  are  deceiver  and  deceived. 
132 


of  the  Poets  Job  4-14 

He  makes  earth's  sages  act  like  dolts, 
He  turns  its  judges  into  fools. 

He  loosens  bands  that  kings  have  tied, 
And  binds  the  rope  around  their  loins; 
Leads  priests  away  without  their  robes, 
And  overthrows  old  families. 

He  renders  speechless  orators, 
Old  men's  discernment  he  removes; 
Pours  upon  princes  deep  disgrace. 
Loosens  the  girdle  of  the  strong; 

From  rulers  takes  their  wit  away. 
In  pathless  wastes  he  lets  them  stray; 
They  grope  in  darkness  without  light. 
And  reel  as  does  a  drunken  man. 

Behold,  all  this  my  eye  has  seen, 
My  ear  has  heard  and  understood. 
What  ye  know,  that  I  also  know. 
Before  you  fall  not  to  the  ground. 

But  to  the  Most  High  I  will  speak,  Ye  are  God's 

Present  my  arguments  to  God.  andlSSte 

For  ye  are  patchers  up  of  lies,  hfs^^ke^  °^ 


Unskilled  physicians  are  ye  all. 


(13  :  3-12) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


Whatever 
the  conse- 
quences, I 
will  be  true 
to  my  con- 
science be- 
fore him 
(13  :  13-19) 


O  that  ye  would  keep  silence  once! 
That  would  be  wisdom  on  your  part. 
Now  listen  to  my  reasoning, 
And  heed  the  charges  of  my  lips. 

Will  ye  speak  what  is  wrong  for  God, 
And  utter  falsehoods  for  his  sake? 
Will  ye  be  partisans  for  God, 
Be  special  pleaders  in  his  cause? 

Would  it  be  well,  should  he  search  you? 
Could  ye  deceive  him  as  a  man? 
He  verily  would  punish  you, 
If  secretly  ye  favored  him. 

Will  not  his  power  overawe, 
The  dread  of  him  upon  you  fall? 
Proverbs  of  ashes  are  your  saws; 
Bulwarks  of  clay  your  bulwarks  are. 

Be  silent,  then,  and  let  me  speak. 
Whatever  will,  may  come  on  me! 
My  flesh  I  will  take  in  my  teeth. 
My  life  into  my  hand  I  take. 

Let  him  slay  me— I  cannot  last. 
Before  him  I  maintain  my  right. 
Ev'n  this  shall  be  my  confidence: 
No  hypocrite  would  come  to  him. 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


Lo,  now  I  have  prepared  my  case, 
I  know  that  I  am  in  the  right. 
Who  is  there  will  contend  with  me? 
If  conquered,  silent  I  will  die. 

Only  two  things  do  not  to  me. 
Then  from  thy  face  I  will  not  hide: 
Remove  thy  hand  that  rests  on  me, 
Let  me  not  be  unmanned  by  fear. 

Then  call — and  I  will  answer  thee; 
Or  I  will  speak,  thou  answering  me. 
What  is  the  measure  of  my  sin  ? 
And  my  transgression  let  me  know. 

Why  hidest  thou  from  me  thy  face, 
And  lookest  on  me  as  thy  foe? 
Why  wilt  thou  chase  a  faded  leaf, 
And  why  pursue  the  withered  grass? 

Thou  ordainst  bitter  things  for  me, 
Mak'st  me  inherit  youthful  sins, 
Puttest  my  feet  within  the  stocks. 
And  keepest  watch  on  all  my  paths. 

Thou  mak'st  a  cut  around  my  root, 
Drawest  a  circle  about  it. 
That  it  decay  like  rotten  things, 
Like  garments  eaten  by  the  moth. 


O  God,  let 
me  plead  ray 
cause  freely 
and  without 
fear;  why 
dost  thou 
treat  me  as 
a  foe? 
(13  :  20-28) 


Job  4-14 


The  Messages 


The  days  of 
a  man  are  at 
best  both 
few  and  full 
of  trouble 
(14  :  1-6) 


The  fallen 
tree  may 
sprout  again, 
but  man, 
once  dead, 
does  not 
awake 
(14  :  7-12) 


Man,  born  of  woman,  frail  and  weak, 
Short-lived  and  full  of  unrest  is, 
Grows  like  a  flower,  withers  soon. 
Flees  like  a  shadow,  lingers  not. 

On  such  a  one  thy  glance  is'cast, 
And  him  thou  bringest  into  court! 
How  could  the  clean  from  unclean  come? 
Not  one  is  free  from  every  fault. 

The  number  of  his  days  is  known. 
The  sum  of  all  his  months,  to  thee. 
Look  thou  away  that  he  may  rest. 
Enjoy  his  day,  as  does  a  slave. 

For  there  is  hope  yet  for  a  tree, 
If  it  is  felled,  it  may  not  die, 
May  live  and  may  shoot  up  again, 
Its  tender  sprout  may  never  fail. 

Its  roots  may  in  the  earth  grow  old. 
And  in  the  dust  its  trunk  may  die; 
Yet  at  the  scent  of  water  sprout. 
And  as  a  young  plant  put  forth  boughs. 

But  man  dies  and  lies  in  the  dust. 
When  he  departs,  he  is  no  more. 
Awakes  not  till  the  heavens  pass. 
Is  not  aroused  out  of  his  sleep. 
136 


of  the  Poets 


Job  4-14 


O  that  thou  wouldst  leave  me  in  hell, 
Conceal  me  till  thy  wrath  be  spent; 
Set  me  a  time,  remember  me, 
If  man  could  die,  and  live  again! 

Through  my  hard  service  I  would  wait, 
Until  my  sentinel's  change  should  come. 
Then  thou  wouldst  call,  I  answer  thee; 
For  thou  wouldst  yearn  for  thine  own  work. 

But  now  thou  countest  every  step, 
Passest  not  by  my  sinful  deed, 
Sealst  my  transgression  in  a  bag, 
And  sewest  up  my  awful  crime. 

Yet  even  mountains  crumble  down. 
The  rock  removes  from  out  its  place, 
The  water  wears  the  stones  to  dust. 
Its  floods  sweep  off  the  very  ground. 

So  thou  destroyst  the  hope  of  man, 
He  falls  asleep  and  rises  not; 
Thou  crushest  him,  and  he  is  gone, 
Dismissest  him,  his  features  change. 

His  sons  are  honored,  he  knows  naught; 
They  are  brought  low,  he  sees  it  not. 
Only  his  flesh  suffers  decay, 
And  for  himself  he  has  to  mourn. 

137 


I  would  wait 
indefinitely, 
if  a  change 
could  come; 
if  thou 
wouldst  call 
me  back  to 
life  and 
hope;  but 
man  has  no 
hope 
(14  :  13-22) 


Job  4-14  The  Messages 

2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 

In  this  cycle  of  colloquies,  Eliphaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar 
present,  from  somewhat  different  points  of  view,  their  side 
of  the  controversy,  while  Job  answers  each  at  length. 

I.  Eliphaz  begins  with  marked  courtesy,  assuming  that 
Job  is  sincerely  pious,  and  has  led  an  upright  life,  but  has 
become  disheartened  because  he  has  not  put  sufficient 
confidence  in  the  value  of  piety,  or  in  the  necessary  result 
of  righteous  conduct.  •  As  he  has  himself  helped  many  who 
were  in  similar  trouble,  he  should  not  now,  when  it  has 
touched  him,  let  go  his  trust  in  revealed  truth.  Eliphaz 
can  appeal  to  divine  revelation.  For  once  when  he  was  in 
an  ecstatic  state  he  had  a  vision  which  brought  him  assur- 
ance. A  spirit  stood  before  him  and  proclaimed  the  fact 
that  man  cannot  be  just  and  pure  before  his  maker  who 
cannot  trust  even  his  heavenly  council,  and  finds  fault 
with  his  angels.  If  it  is  true  of  all  men  that  they  are  sin- 
ful, and  therefore  also  quickly  pass  away,  how  much  more 
true  of  the  irreverent  and  foolish  man  who  endangers  his 
life  by  angrily  raving  against  God!  He  is  sure  to  perish. 
The  only  proper  thing  to  do  is  to  submit  to  God,  who  does 
wonderful  things.  Job  should  feel  that  such  a  correction 
as  has  been  given  him  is  for  his  good.  For  God  wounds 
and  he  binds  up  also,  and  saves  the  righteous  in  famine, 
war,  and  pestilence.  Surely  Job  will  come  out  of  all  his 
troubles,  live  long,  and  be  prosperous. 

138 


of  the  Poets  Job  4-14 

2.  In  his  reply,  Job  maintains  that  his  anger  is  not  ex- 
cessive in  view  of  the  fate  that  has  befallen  him.  It  is  the 
enormity  of  his  affliction  that  causes  the  rashness  of  his 
speech.  He  is  pursued  by  God  himself  with  poisoned 
arrows,  and  knows  full  well  what  ails  him.  Let  the  Al- 
mighty crush  him  then;  he  cannot  long  endure.  The 
friends  are  like  those  river-beds  that  have  no  water  in  the 
hot  season,  and  deceive  the  traveller  who  comes  to  them  to 
slake  his  thirst.  It  is  not  fair,  he  holds,  to  censure  words. 
Cries  that  come  from  despairing  hearts  should  be  allowed 
without  criticism  to  be  carried  away  by  the  wind.  It  is 
his  own  judgment  which  he  trusts,  that  tells  him  something 
is  radically  wrong..  His  misery  is  great,  and  hope  there  is 
none.  Man's  life  vanishes  quickly,  and  soon  the  divine 
eye  will  seek  in  vain  for  the  one  who  has  passed  away  for- 
ever. Why  give  to  him  such  exaggerated  attention  ?  He 
certainly  is  not  a  dangerous  mythological  creature  like  the 
primeval  ocean.  It  is  doing  too  much  honor  to  man  to 
visit  him  daily  and  test  him  all  the  time.  Why  cannot  God 
pardon  the  sin,  if  sin  has  been  committed  ?  Would  it  not 
be  in  his  own  interest  to  do  so?  For  Job  will  be  gone 
when  his  maker  shall  look  eagerly  for  his  handiwork. 

3.  Bildad  cannot,  after  this  speech,  address  Job  with 
the  courtesy  of  Eliphaz.  He  finds  it  preposterous  that  the 
Almighty  should  be  charged  with  injustice.  But  he  does 
not  hurl  the  accusation  of  wrongdoing  against  Job  per- 
sonally.    It  is  probably  the  sons  who  have  sinned,  and  if  he 

139 


Job  4-14  The  Messages 

is  himself  pure  and  just,  his  prosperity  will  be  restored. 
Then  Bildad  makes  his  appeal  to  the  tradition  of  the  past, 
the  wise  sayings  of  former  generations  handed  down  from 
father  to  son,  all  to  the  effect  that  the  wicked  man  very 
quickly  comes  to  grief,  while  the  just  will,  in  the  end,  re- 
joice and  see  the  discomfiture  and  shame  of  his  enemies. 
4.  Job  freely  acknowledges  that  a  man  cannot  be  just 
with  God,  and  that  if  God  should  begin  to  inquire,  he 
would  not  be  able  to  answer  one  of  a  thousand  questions. 
He  is  great  in  wisdom  and  in  power,  does  things  imawares, 
and  cannot  be  restrained  by  any  one,  and  does  not  have  to 
give  an  account  of  what  it  pleases  him  to  do.  He  can 
pour  out  his  fury  terribly.  In  days  of  old  when  the  female 
chaos-monster,  called  Rahab,  wi  h  her  helpers  sought  to 
overthrow  the  power  of  the  gods,  these  mighty  friends  were 
bowed  beneath  him.  Nothing  would  compel  such  a  power- 
ful being  to  answer;  and  though  Job  were  absolutely  inno- 
cent, he  might  be  condemned.  He  brings  to  naught  just 
and  unjust,  for  this  certainly  cannot  be  ascribed  to  any 
one  else.  In  a  pestilence  men  perish,  whether  they  are 
good  or  bad,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  concern  him.  There 
is  no  arbiter  that  can  adjudicate  between  Job  and  God, 
that  can  free  Job  from  the  fear  which  unmans  him.  He 
can  but  protest  or  plead,  say  to  God:  "Thou  shalt  not 
condemn  me!"  or  remind  him  of  the  process  by  which  he 
fashioned,  and  the  care  with  which  he  watched  him.  Was 
it  all  in  order  to  reveal  on  him  the  boundless  strength  of 
140 


of  the  Poets  Job  4-14 

divine  power?  Job  closes  with  expressing  his  desire  to 
be  left  alone  to  have  some  cheer  before  he  goes  to  the 
realms  of  death. 

5.  Zophar,  apparently  the  youngest  of  the  friends,  shows 
least  consideration  for  Job's  feelings.  He  characterizes 
him  at  the  outset  as  a  man  of  lips  and  a  babbler,  regards 
as  an  outrage  his  claim  to  have  led  a  reproachless  life,  and 
expresses  a  desire  that  God  himself  might  speak,  showing 
how  wise  and  powerful  he  is.  Only  if  Job  will  repent  of 
his  sin,  and  put  it  away,  does  Zophar  think  that  a  change  in 
his  fortune  can  be  brought  about. 

6.  Job's  reply  to  Zophar  possesses  a  pathos  deeper  than 
any  other  part  of  the  dialogues.  His  appeal  is  to  his  own 
subjective  judgment.  The  ear  examines  words,  as  the 
palate  food.  As  to  the  power  of  God  and  his  knowledge, 
he  can  say  as  much  as  the  friends.  What  they  know  he 
knows;  and  what  is  more,  his  own  eye  has  seen  it  and  his 
own  ear  heard  it.  He  is  wearied  of  presenting  his  argu- 
ments to  these  patchers  up  of  lies,  and  desires  to  speak  to 
God.  He  knows  that  this  is  dangerous.  God  might  slay 
him.  But  the  fact  that  no  hypocrite  would  show  such 
eagerness  to  meet  him  is  itself  a  ground  of  confidence. 
Provided  he  is  not  overcome  by  sheer  force  or  unmanned 
by  fear,  he  is  ready  for  the  encounter,  to  answer  questions, 
or  to  ask  them.  Job  asks  why  God  hides  his  face  from 
him,  since  the  life  of  man  at  best  is  so  short  and  full  of  un- 
rest, till  he  must  pass  into  the  silent.     And  beyond  the 

141 


Job  4-14  The  Messages 

grave  there  is  no  hope.  How  gladly  would  he  stand  upon 
his  sentinel's  post  in  hell,  if  a  change  could  ever  come,  if  a 
man  could  die  and  live  again,  if  God,  having  a  yearning 
for  his  own  handiwork,  could  call  him  back  again.  But  it 
cannot  be,  and  Job  declines  to  base  his  argument  upon 
so  unstable  a  foundation. 

3.  The  Valiie  of  this  Cycle  of  Discussion 

This  round  of  discussion  does  not  carry  the  reader  very 
far  on  his  way.  It  reveals  the  attitude  and  animus  of  the 
friends,  and  shows  likewise  that  Job  is  deeply  perplexed, 
yet  absolutely  sincere.  Not  even  for  his  own  advantage, 
or  for  any  other  reason,  will  he  speak  other  than  the  exact 
truth  concerning  himself.  So  far  as  he  can  see,  God  is 
dealing  unjustly  with  him.  He  cannot  see  a  way  out  of 
his  troubles.  God  is  so  much  above  him  that  there  cannot 
even  be  an  intermediary  or  advocate  (9  :  32,  ^^),  who 
might  bring  them  together.  He  despairs  because  there 
seems  to  be  no  way  of  pleading  his  own  cause  before  God. 
He  feels  absolutely  helpless.  The  friends,  assuming,  as 
they  do,  that  he  has  committed  sin,  give  him  no  assistance 
or  comfort.  He  knows  that  he  is  guiltless  of  intentional 
sin  (9  :  6),  and  will  not  confess  to  that  of  which  he  is  not 
conscious.  But  in  this  he  lays  a  basis  for  his  future 
assurance. 


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of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


SECOND   CYCLE   OF  DIALOGUES 
{Chaps.  15-21) 

I.  The  Translation 
(i)  Eliphaz's  Discourse  {chap.  15) 

Does  a  sage  speak  so  foolishly, 
Filling  his  belly  with  the  wind, 
Reasoning  with  words  availing  naught, 
With  speeches  that  possess  no  force  ? 

Thou  true  religion  undermin'st, 
Disturbst  devotion  before  God. 
Thy  wickedness  inspires  thy  speech, 
And  wily  language  thou  dost  choose. 

Wert  thou  born  as  the  first  of  men? 
Wert  thou  brought  forth  ere  angels  were? 
Dost  thou  attend  councils  on  high? 
Dost  thou  obtain  thy  wisdom  there? 

What  knowest  thou  that  we  know  not? 
What  is  thy  insight  we  have  not? 
Amongst  us  is  a  man  of  years. 
Much  older  than  thy  father  is. 

143 


Such  foolish 
talk  as  yours 
undermines 
religion  and 
betrays  your 
character 
(15  :  1-6) 


Is  your  judg- 
ment better 
than  that  of 
the  elders 
who  were 
here  before 
strangers 
came? 
(is  :  7-19) 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

Spurnst  thou  the  comfort  granted  thee, 
The  word  in  mercy  sent  to  thee? 
Why  art  thou  led  astray  by  wrath, 
Arid  wherefore  dost  thou  roll  thine  eyes? 

Thy  mouth  condemns  thee,  and  not  I. 
Thy  lips  bear  witness  against  thee. 
For  against  God  thy  anger  turns. 
Rebellion  issues  from  thy  mouth. 

What  is  man  that  he  should  be  clean, 
The  woman -born  that  he  be  just? 
He  cannot  trust  his  Holy  Ones, 
The  heavens  before  him  are  not  pure, 

Much  less  the  wretched  and  corrupt, 
Man  who  like  water  drinks  in  sin. 
I  will  instruct  thee,  listen  thou! 
What  I  have  seen  I  will  disclose. 

That  which  wise  men  were  wont  to  say. 
And  what  their  fathers  did  not  hide. 
Who  in  the  land  sat  undisturbed, 
To  whom  no  stranger  yet  had  come: 

They  declare  "The  wicked  suffers  all  his  days, 

doer  receives  The  fcw  years  the  oppressor  lives, 

^lyust  pen-  Voiccs  of  terror  fill  his  ears, 

(is  :  20-35)  jjj  peace  the  spoiler  falls  on  him. 

144 


of  the  Poets  J«b  ^5-21 

"He  cannot  come  forth  from  the  dark, 
He  for  the  sword's  edge  is  marked  out, 
He  is  preserved  for  vulture's  food, 
He  feels  the  fate  approaching  him. 

**The  day  of  darkness  frightens  him, 
Distress  and  anguish  seize  on  him. 
What  he  is  fond  of  strangers  take, 
His  substance  never  can  endure. 

"He  strikes  not  in  the  earth  his  root, 
Nor  can  his  branches  spread  abroad. 
The  heat  dries  up  his  tender  shoots, 
The  winds  sweep  all  his  blossoms  off. 

"His  trunk  is  rotting  ere  its  time,^ 
His  branches  do  not  green  remain; 
He  casts  forth  like  a  vine  his  grapes, 
Strews  blossoms  like  the  olive-tree. 

"For  barren  are  the  godless  ones, 
And  fire  devours  the  bribers'  tents. 
Who  conceives  sin  brings  trouble  forth, 
Illusive  fruit  the  womb  matures." 


145 


Job  15-21 


The  Messages 


Have  done 
with  your 
lip-comfort- 
ing; I  would 
be  more 
helpful  to 
you 
(16  :  1-6) 


God  has  at- 
tacked me 
fiercely;  I 
am  humbled 
and  sick 
(16  :  7-17) 


(2)  JoVs  Reply  {chaps.  16-17) 

I  have  heard  many  things  like  these. 
Ye  all  are  wretched  comforters. 
Is  there  an  end  to  words  of  wind  ? 
What  has  provoked  thee  to  speak  thus? 

As  you,  so  could  I  also  speak, 
If  you  were  only  in  my  place. 
Fine  phrases  I  could  hurl  at  you; 
And  I  could  shake  at  you  my  head. 

I  could  use  words  to  strengthen  you. 
Sustain  you  with  lip-sympathy, 
Could  speak  and  never  spare  the  grief 
That  would  remain  when  I  were  through. 

But  he  has  made  me  weak  and  dazed. 
And  all  my  pain  has  wasted  me. 
As  witness  rising  against  me 
The  awful  plague  accuses  me. 

His  anger  tears  and  pulls  me  down, 
He  gnashes  on  me  with  his  teeth. 
I  was  at  ease — he  shattered  me. 
Seized  by  the  neck  and  threw  me  down. 

He  as  a  target  set  me  up, 
His  arrows  shot  me  round  about. 
146 


of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


He  cleft  unsparingly  my  reins, 

And  poured  my  gall  upon  the  ground. 

He  broke  me  through,  breach  upon  breach, 
In  soldier's  fashion  ran  on  me, 
Though  in  my  hands  no  violence  was. 
And  ev'n  my  speech  was  without  fault. 

I  sackcloth  put  upon  my  skin. 
And  thrust  my  horn  into  the  dust. 
My  face  was  red  from  flowing  tears, 
And  dark  lines  lay  about  my  eyes. 


Cover  not  thou,  O  earth,  my  blood! 
Let  my  cry  find  no  resting-place! 
Behold  in  heaven  my  witness  is. 
My  advocate  who  dwells  on  high. 


O  that  God 
would  be  my 
friendly, 
heavenly 
witness 
(16  :  18-21) 


O  that  God  would  come  forth — my  friend! 
My  eyes  would  pour  out  tears  to  him. 
That  he  would  plead  for  man  with  God, 
As  mortal  man  pleads  for  his  friend. 


Not  many  are  the  coming  years. 
And  I  shall  go  and  not  return. 
My  breath  be  spent,  my  day  be  fled. 
Only  the  grave  be  left  for  me. 
147 


Life  will  be 
brief;  will 
God  be  my 
surety?  alas 
my  hope  is 
gone  (16 : 
22-17  :  7, 
11-16) 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

Surely,  illusions  are  my  lot, 
On  bitter  facts  my  eye  must  rest. 
O  by  thy  side  lay  down  my  pledge. 
Who  else  for  me  would  surety  be  ? 

A  byword  thou  hast  made  of  me, 
A  laughing-stock  to  men  I  am. 
My  eye  from  sorrow  has  grown  dim, 
And  like  a  shadow  are  my  limbs. 

My  days  depart  without  a  hope, 
The  wishes  of  my  heart  are  gone. 
The  night  I  into  day  have  made, 
To  darkness  has  my  light  been  turned. 

Have  I  a  hope?    Hell  is  my  home! 
There  in  the  dark  I  spread  my  bed. 
"My  mother!"  to  the  grave  I  call. 
And  to  the  worm  "My  sister!"  say. 

Where,  then,  is  still  for  me  a  hope? 
My  welfare,  who  can  still  see  it? 
With  me  to  the  nether  world  they  go, 
They  rest  together  in  the  dust. 


148 


of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


(3)  Bildad's  Discourse  {chap.  18). 

When  will  an  end  to  these  words  come? 
Be  silent  thou,  and  let  me  speak. 
Why  are  we  thought  like  witless  brutes, 
Considered  as  vile  beasts  by  thee? 

The  righteous  shudder  at  this  case. 
The  pure  are  shocked  by  godlessness, 
His  way  the  just  man  still  maintains. 
And  stronger  grows  the  clean  of  hands. 

But  thou  return,  present  thyself, 
Who  dost  thyself  in  anger  tear! 
Will  earth  become  a  wilderness 
And  rocks  be  moved  on  thy  account? 

For  the  bad  man  the  light  goes  out, 
The  flame  of  his  fire  glows  no  more; 
The  lamp  is  darkened  in  his  tent, 
The  lantern  shines  not  in  his  place. 

And  straitened  are  his  mighty  strides. 
His  clever  plans  have  ruined  him; 
His  foot  has  in  the  net  been  caught. 
Over  a  pitfall  he  does  walk. 

Upon  his  heel  a  trap  lays  hold, 
He  by  a  snare  is  firmly  seized, 
149 


Thy  godless- 
ness seems 
shocking  and 
thy  bearing 
insolent  (18; 
1-3 ;  17  : 
8-10  ;  18  :  4) 


Wicked  men 
perish,  their 
plans  are 
frustrated, 
their  bodies 
diseased, 
they  pass 
into  oblivion 
(18  :  S-21) 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

A  cord  for  him  in  hiding  is, 
Upon  his  pathway  Hes  a  noose. 

Terrors  surround  and  frighten  him, 
They  follow  on  his  every  step; 
Ruin  is  hungry  for  his  life, 
Destruction  waiting  for  his  fall. 

Death's  first-born  son  his  body  eats, 
And  to  the  King  of  Terrors  leads. 
Within  his  tent  does  Belial  dwell. 
With  brimstone  covered  is  his  house. 

Below,  his  roots  are  all  dried  up; 
Above,  his  branches  withered  all. 
He  is  forgotten  on  the  earth, 
His  name  is  never  mentioned  there. 

Into  the  dark  he  must  go  down. 
An  exile,  driven  from  the  world; 
He  neither  offspring  has  nor  child, 
No  remnant  in  his  people  left. 

The  West  stands  shuddering  at  him. 
The  East  with  horror  is  convulsed. 
Such  are  the  tents  of  wicked  men. 
The  houses  of  the  godless  ones. 
ISO 


of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


(4)  JoVs  Reply  {chap.  19) 

How  long  will  ye  torment  my  soul, 
With  speeches  try  to  shatter  me, 
Reproaching  me  repeatedly, 
Nothing  ashamed  to  act  like  foes? 


How  long 
will  you  at- 
tack me  in 
this  fashion? 
(19  :  i-S) 


Ye  verily  yoxir  greatness  prove 

In  that  ye  reason  out  my  shame. 

But  know,  'tis  God  who  has  done  wrong, 

He  has  his  net  upon  me  thrown. 


None  hears  my  cry  of  "Violence!" 
None  heeds  when  I  for  justice  call. 
My  way  he  stops — I  cannot  pass. 
He  darkness  throws  across  my  paths. 


God  is  deal- 
ing with  me 
as  with  an 
enemy 
(19  :  6-12) 


My  glory  he  removes  from  me. 
He  takes  from  off  my  head  the  crown. 
He  breaks  me  down,  and  I  am  gone; 
My  hope  he  roots  up  like  a  tree. 


His  fury  rises  against  me, 

He  treats  me  like  an  enemy. 

His  troops  come  marching  in  on  me, 

They  form  a  camp  about  my  tent. 

151 


Job  15-21 


The  Messages 


My  kinsfolk 
and  ac- 
quaintances 
shun  my 
presence;  my 
servants, 
even  my 
family, 
abhor  me 
(19  :  13-22) 


But  let  this 
be  rock- 
graven!  God 
will  be  my 
Vindicator, 
my  Witness. 
Be  warned 
that  punish- 
ment does 
not  overtake 
you 
(19  :  23-29) 


My  brothers  keep  away  from  me, 
Acquaintances  are  strangers  now, 
My  kinsmen  recognize  me  not, 
Guests  of  the  house  recall  me  not. 

A  stranger  am  I  to  my  maids, 
An  alien  whom  their  eyes  behold. 
I  call  my  slave — he  hears  me  not, 
And  for  his  favors  I  must  plead. 

My  breath  is  loathsome  to  my  wife, 
My  odor  to  my  children  vile; 
The  little  ones  show  disrespect. 
If  I  arise,  they  jeer  at  me. 

My  warmest  friends  abhor  me  now, 
My  loved  ones  all  against  me  turn, 
Under  my  skin  the  flesh  decays. 
My  very  teeth  are  falling  out. 

O  pity,  pity  me,  my  friends! 
Me  the  Almighty's  hand  has  touched. 
Wherefore  pursue  ye  me  like  God? 
Have  ye  not  of  my  flesh  your  fill  ? 

O  that  my  words  were  written  down. 
Were  in  a  book  recorded  well, 
With  iron  pen  and  lead  engraved 
Upon  the  rock  forevermore! 
152 


of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


I  know  that  my  redeemer  lives, 
In  days  to  come  he  will  avenge; 
Then  will  he  rise  upon  the  dust, 
My  witness  who  has  watched  this  case. 

God  will  himself  proclaim  me  pure, 
Whom  I  within  my  soul  descry. 
My  eyes  behold,  though  none  else  sees; 
My  reins  within  me  are  consumed. 

"  Let  us  pursue  him,"  so  ye  say, 
"For  in  himself  the  fault  is  found." 
Let  on  you  fall  fear  of  the  sword! 
For  "wrath  the  wicked  overtakes." 


(5)  Zophar's  Discourse  (chap.  20) 

Not  so  my  thought  conceives  this  case, 
My  mind  by  it  is  greatly  stirred. 
Reproachful  words  I  must  needs  hear, 
And  answers  from  a  senseless  breath. 

Know'st  thou  not  from  of  old  this  fact. 
Since  man  was  planted  on  the  earth? 
Brief  is  the  wicked  man's  success, 
But  for  a  moment  is  his  joy. 

Though  to  the  heavens  he  ascend, 

And  to  the  clouds  his  head  should  reach, 

^53 


I  regret  such 
senseless 
argument 
(20  :  1-3) 


All  history 
illustrates 
the  brevity 
of  the 
wicked 
man's  suc- 
cess 
(20  :  4-11) 


Job  15-21 


The  Messages 


He  gets  no 
pleasure 
from  his  ex- 
perience, and 
suffers  in 
every  way 
(20  :  12-29) 


He  vanishes  as  does  the  smoke, 

And  "Where  is  he?"  his  friends  exclaim. 

He  like  a  dream  flies,  with  no  trace. 
Like  nightly  spectre  he  is  gone. 
Full  of  youth's  vigor  were  his  bones; 
His  strength  lies  with  him  in  the  dust. 

How  sweet  is  evil  to  his  mouth! 
He  hides  it  well  beneath  his  tongue, 
Saves  it  and  will  not  let  it  go. 
But  in  his  palate  holds  it  fast. 

Then  is  his  food  within  him  changed, 
The  gall  of  adders  it  becomes; 
The  swallowed  wealth  he  must  throv/  up. 
And  from  his  belly  drive  it  forth. 

Poison  of  asps  he  will  suck  in, 
He  will  be  slain  by  adder's  tongue. 
He  will  not  see  the  cheerful  brooks. 
With  milk  and  honey  flowing  streams. 


He  cannot  use  the  wealth  he  made. 
Or  pleasure  from  his  gain  derive. 
He  robbed  the  needy  and  oppressed. 
Seized  houses  built  by  other  men. 
154 


of  the  Poets  Job  15-21 

He  is  not  safe  through  Mammon's  aid, 
Cannot  escape  through  hoarded  wealth. 
Straitened  he  is  in  spite  of  means, 
And  on  him  falls  calamity. 

God  vents  his  anger  upon  him. 
Showers  his  wrath  upon  his  head; 
Besets  him  with  his  terrors  dread. 
Yea,  darkness  is  laid  up  for  him. 

A  fire  not  blown  will  burn  him  up, 
And  waste  what  in  his  tent  remains. 
The  heavens  will  not  hide  his  guilt. 
And  against  him  the  earth  appears. 

His  house  destruction  sweeps  away, 
A  curse  on  him  when  his  day  comes! 
That  is  the  wicked  man's  reward. 
The  heritage  which  God  pays  him. 

(6)  JoVs  Reply  {chap.  21) 

Hear  ye,  O  hear  the  words  I  speak!  Let  me  ex- 
Let  this  be  comfort  granted  me!  ribie°facteT 
Suffer  me  freely  to  explain!  g^  .  ^_^. 
Ye  surely  will  not  mock  me  then. 

Is  my  complaint  of  men  alone? 
Wherefore  must  I  be  patient  still? 
155 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

Turn,  look  at  me,  and  be  amazed, 
And  then  in  silence  shut  your  mouth! 

I  shudder,  when  I  give  it  thought, 
A  tremor  seizes  on  my  flesh: 
Why  do  the  wicked  flourish  so, 
Grow  old  and  also  gain  in  strength? 

The  wicked  They  are  allowed  to  see  their  seed, 

and  are  Their  offspring  is  established  well; 

the^?life"  Their  peaceful  home  has  naught  to  fear, 

^^^  •  ^"^^^  God's  chastening  rod  is  not  on  them. 

Their  bull  fails  not,  when  gendering, 
Their  cow  aborts  not  when  she  calves; 
Like  lambs  they  send  their  babies  forth. 
Their  children  ever  dance  and  play. 

To  harp  and  tambourine  they  sing. 
And  at  the  sound  of  pipes  rejoice. 
In  welfare  they  complete  their  day, 
And  in  a  moment  they  pass  hence. 

They  even  Yet  they  to  God  exclaimed:  "Depart! 

(21 :  14,  is)  We  have  no  wish  to  know  thy  ways. 

What  is  the  Lord  whom  we  should  serve? 

What  would  we  gain,  if  we  should  pray?" 

156 


of  the  Poets 


Job  15-21 


Is  not  their  fortune  in  their  hands? 
God  is  not  in  their  plans  concerned. 
How  often  does  their  lamp  go  out, 
Or  upon  them  destruction  fall? 

They  should  be  seized  upon  by  traps, 
He  should  ensnare  them  in  his  wrath; 
They  should  be  like  the  wind-swept  straw, 
Like  chaff  that's  scattered  by  the  storm. 

"God  lays  up  evils  for  his  sons." 
The  man  himself  should  punished  be; 
Destruction  his  own  eyes  should  see, 
And  of  God's  anger  he  should  taste. 

What  does  he  for  his  household  care, 
When  numbered  are  his  months  on  earth? 
Is  knowledge  to  be  taught  to  God, 
Whose  wisdom  judges  those  on  high? 

One  in  the  midst  of  plenty  dies, 
In  deepest  quiet  and  at  ease; 
Of  fatness  full  his  body  is, 
Upon  his  bones  the  marrow  moist. 

Another  dies  in  bitterness, 
Who  never  knew  the  joy  of  life. 
They  rest  together  in  the  dust, 
And  on  their  corpses  crawl  the  worms. 
157 


As  for  your 
proverbial 
sayfngs 
about  their 
misfortunes, 
experience 
does  not  con- 
firm  them 
(21  :  16-34) 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

Behold,  I  know  full  well  your  thought, 
By  which  you  think  to  prove  me  wrong: 
"Where  is  the  palace  of  the  strong, 
The  tent  wherein  the  wicked  dwelt?" 

Why  ask  ye  not  of  wayfarers, 

And  learn  what  they  have  seen  and  heard; 

How  oft  the  wicked  man  escapes. 

Is  saved  when  comes  the  day  of  wrath? 

Who,  then,  rebukes  him  for  his  life. 
And  who  requites  him  for  his  deeds? 
When  he  is  taken  to  his  grave, 
A  watch  is  stationed  at  his  tomb. 

So  sweetly  lie  the  valley's  clods; 
And  all  men  march  to  honor  him. 
How  vain  is  all  your  comforting! 
How  futile  all  your  answers  are! 

2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 

I.  Eliphaz  begins  the  second  cycle  of  the  dialogues  in 
a  far  different  spirit  from  that  in  which  he  opened  the  dis- 
cussion. He  charges  Job  with  supreme  folly,  represents 
him  as  a  man  who  undermines  true  religion  and  disturbs 
devotion  before  God,  and  intimates  that  the  source  of  his 
wily  and  disrespectful  language  is  the  deep-seated  corrup- 

158 


of  the  Poets  Job  15-21 

tion  within.  Job  speaks  as  though  he  had  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  protoplast,  nay,  of  the  angels  themselves;  as  though 
he  obtained  his  knowledge  by  attending  the  councils  in 
heaven.  Yet  Eliphaz  is  older  than  Job's  father.  Why 
should  he  scorn  the  word  that  came  by  divine  inspiration, 
contained  all  that  was  necessary  to  see  the  whole  matter 
in  its  right  light,  and  was  so  mercifully  sent  to  him  for  his 
illumination  and  comfort?  The  trouble  seems  to  Eliphaz 
to  be  that  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers  has  been  forgotten,  and 
for  this  the  foreigner  was  responsible.  When  the  people 
no  longer  sat  undisturbed  in  the  land,  but  the  stranger 
came,  he  brought  with  him  his  new  ideas.  Eliphaz  feels 
the  essentially  foreign  attitude  of  Job.  Against  this  foreign 
thought  he  marshals  in  impressive  array  the  wise  sayings 
handed  down  by  tradition  concerning  the  sure  punishment 
in  this  life  of  the  evil  doer  as  the  ripest  fruits  of  human 
observation. 

2.  Job  has  heard  all  these  things  before.  They  do  not 
touch  the  issue  at  stake,  they  bring  no  relief  to  his  mind. 
The  fine  phrases  give  no  assistance  in  solving  his  problem; 
the  lip-sympathy  carries  no  warmth  to  his  heart. .  He  con- 
tinues his  charge  against  the  Almighty,  whom  he  repre- 
sents as  a  soldier  waging  war  against  him.  Let  his  inno- 
cent blood,  then,  cry  out,  like  Abel's,  to  heaven  for  ven- 
geance. But  to  whom  in  heaven?  Here  the  remarkable 
idea  presents  itself  to  his  mind  of  a  God,  his  witness  and 
advocate  on  high,  pleading  with  the  God  who  is  unjustly 

159 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

afflicting  him  as  a  mortal  man  may  plead  for  his  friend. 
It  is  the  new  God,  his  God,  beginning  to  differentiate  him- 
self from  the  God  of  tradition  championed  by  the  friends. 
Will  he  go  surety  for  him?  He  hopes  so.  But  the  out- 
look is  dark.  The  road  leads  to  the  nether  world,  in 
which  there  is  no  light.  The  term  "hell,"  as  a  render- 
ing of  the  Hebrew  Sheol,  is  used,  as  by  our  pagan  an- 
cestors, of  the  abode  of  all  the  dead,  whether  good  or 
bad. 

3.  Bildad  has  no  understanding  for  Job's  point  of  view. 
All  that  he  hears  is  the  blasphemy  of  the  man  who  main- 
tains that  he  is  right,  and  accuses  the  Almighty  of  wrong. 
He  falls  back  once  more  upon  the  sayings  of  wise  men  in 
regard  to  the  terrible  things  that  surround  on  all  sides  and 
are  in  store  for  the  wicked.  The  imagery  is  rich.  Death's 
first-born  son  is  leprosy,  the  King  of  Terrors,  of  coarse, 
death  itself,  and  Belial  a  monster  of  the  lower  world. 
"An  exile,  driven  from  the  world"  is  as  effective  a  picture 
as  that  of  the  personified  West,  which  stands  shuddering 
at  the  wicked. 

4.  The  insensibility  to  his  suffering,  and  to  the  terrible 
problem  that  agitates  his  mind,  fills  the  soul  of  Job  with 
keenest  pain.  The  estrangement  of  his  friends  and  ac- 
quaintances, the  indignities  heaped  upon  him  by  servants, 
the  sense  of  being  an  object  to  be  shunned  by  wife  and 
children,  are  dwelt  on,  the  poet  temporarily  forgetting  that 
in  the  old  legend  all  of  Job's  children  had  died.    The 

160 


of  the  Poets  Job  15-21 

bootless  cry  for  pity  from  his  friends,  leads  his  thought  to 
the  judgment  of  posterity,  and  he  first  thinks  of  the  desira- 
bility of  a  documentary  record  of  his  case.  But  a  book-roll 
would  perish,  and  even  the  rock  would  wear  away.  In  the 
end  the  thought  must  revert  to  the  God  whom  his  eyes  have 
beheld,  his  witness  who  shall  be  his  avenger.  In  days  to 
come  he  will  avenge.  He  will  rise  upon  the  dust  and  pro- 
claim his  integrity.  No  other  eyes  than  his  have  seen  this 
God,  but  the  thought  of  him  stirs  his  whole  nature.  There 
is  no  question  of  a  theophany  in  the  old  sense.  Nor  is 
there  any  hint  of  survival  after  death,  or  a  resurrection. 
How  strongly  his  thought  is  occupied  with  his  vindication 
before  the  world  is  seen  by  the  last  stanza,  which  is  a 
warning  to  the  upholders  of  the  traditional  view  that  the 
tables  may  be  turned,  and  their  own  so  oft-repeated  phrase 
apply  to  themselves.  There  is  no  change  of  tone  in  the 
remainder  of  the  poem.  The  situation  remains  unchanged, 
the  arguments  continue  to  be  the  same  on  both  sides. 
The  famous  passage  is  not  climactic  in  the  sense  generally 
supposed.  It  throws  some  light  on  the  God-conception, 
none  on  the  idea  of  the  future  beyond  the  grave,  cherished 
by  the  poet. 

5.  Zophar's  discourse  does  not  refer  to  the  ideas  ex- 
pressed by  Job.  Only  the  last  stanza  left  something  of 
its  sting.  He  takes  his  refuge  in  the  testimony  of  all  his- 
tory as  read  by  him,  and  presents  one  more  picture  of  the 
awful  fate  of  the  godless. 

161 


Job  15-21  The  Messages 

6.  Job's  reply  raises  more  definitely  the  question  as  to 
the  correctness  of  the  generalization  of  the  friends  than  has 
been  done  hitherto.  He  shudders  himself  when  he  real- 
izes the  full  significance  of  the  facts  he  cannot  help  seeing. 
Why  do  the  wicked  flourish  ?  They  often  prosper  even  to 
the  end.  And  yet  they  cared  nothing  for  God's  law  or 
service.  They  should  be  punished,  but  they  are  not.  It 
is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  God  stores  up  evil  for  their 
children.  What  do  they  care  for  their  children,  if  they 
can  escape  themselves?  And  what  justice  is  it  to  punish 
the  children  for  what  the  parents  have  done?  When  the 
wicked  man  is  honored  to  the  last,  and  lies  peacefully 
buried,  what  retributive  justice  has  been  operative  in  his 
case? 

3.  The  Value  of  the  Discussion. 

This  round  of  discussion  has  served  to  show  that  the 
friends  are  more  concerned  over  saving  God's  face  than 
over  reaching  the  exact  truth.  They  are  indignant  at 
Job  and  reproach  him  for  his  attitude,  yet  do  not  really 
touch  the  problem  which  vexes  his  soul.  They  repeat 
again  the  wise  sayings  of  the  elders  and  the  testimony  of 
history.  Their  method  is  still  somewhat  indirect.  They 
set  forth  the  fate  of  the  wicked  in  such  a  way  as  to  let  Job 
see  that  the  portrayal  fits  his  case. 

Naturally  Job  is  not  relieved  by  such  comfort.  In  his 
closing  rejoinder  he  flatly  denies  the  relevancy  or  accuracy 
162 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 

of  their  statements,  declaring  that,  as  a  matter  of  experi- 
ence, wicked  men  often  flourish  throughout  life  and  escape 
punishment  for  their  evil  deeds.  In  his  own  thinking,  he 
makes  some  important  progress.  He  conjectures  that 
God  may  be  a  witness  of  all  that  has  befallen  him,  and 
that  he  will  declare  the  truth  on  his  behalf  (16  :  19). 
He  goes  further  and  declares  (19  :  25,  26)  that  God  will 
surely  vindicate  him  at  some  time,  acting  as  a  friend. 
Thus  his  new  conception  of  God  begins  to  help  Job  out  of 
his  perplexity. 

VI 

THIRD   CYCLE   OF  DIALOGUES 
{Chaps.  22-31) 

I.  The  Translation 

(i)  Eliphaz's  Discourse  (chap.  22) 

Does  God  from  man  profit  derive  ?  Does  God 

The  wise  gains  only  for  himself.  fo^gtd^"'' 

Thy  goodness,  does  it  meet  his  need? 
Thy  justice,  is  it  gain  to  him? 

Is  godly  fear  punished  by  him? 
Art  thou  rebuked  for  piety? 
Or  is  not  thy  corruption  great, 
And  thy  transgression  limitless? 

163    ■ 


ness? 
(22  :  1-4) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


You  must 
have  been 
unscrupu- 
lous and 
without 
mercy 
(22  :  5-11) 


You  thought 
that  God 
would  take 
no  notice 
(22  :  12-20) 


Thou  wouldst  for  no  cause  take  a  pawn, 
And  strip  the  naked  of  his  clothes, 
The  thirsty  man  a  drink  refuse, 
And  from  the  famished  bread  withhold. 

Thou,  strong  of  arm,  didst  own  the  land, 
And  didst  in  honor  live  on  it. 
Yet,  robbed,  the  widow  left  thy  house, 
And  broken  was  the  orphan's  arm. 

For  this  cause  snares  around  thee  were, 
And  fear  brought  terror  suddenly; 
Thy  tent's  light  into  darkness  turned, 
And  thee  a  flood  of  waters  drenched. 

"What  does  God  know?"  so  thoughtest  thou, 
"Can  he  discern  through  heavy  clouds? 
Clouds  cover  him,  he  nothing  sees. 
He  walks  beyond  the  bounds  of  earth." 

Wilt  thou  thus  walk  the  paths  of  old 
That  wicked  men  did  follow  once, 
Who  came  to  an  untimely  end. 
O'er  their  foundation  swept  a  flood. 

The  righteous  saw  it  and  rejoiced, 
A  byword  made  of  them  the  pure; 
"Our  enemies  have  been  destroyed. 
Their  remnant  has  the  fire  consumed." 
164 


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Make  peace  with  him  and  friendship,  thou, 
In  this  way  good  shall  come  to  thee; 
And  take  instruction  from  his  mouth, 
And  in  thy  heart  lay  up  his  words. 

If  thou  to  God  dost  humbly  turn, 
Removest  evil  from  thy  tents, 
Thou  shalt  in  God  thy  pleasure  have. 
And  thou  shalt  lift  thy  face  to  him. 

Thou  then  shalt  pray  and  he  shall  hear, 
Thou  unto  him  shalt  pay  thy  vowS. 
Established  shall  be  all  thy  plans, 
And  on  thy  path  the  light  shall  shine. 

For  he  brings  low  the  high  and  proud. 
And  those  of  downcast  eyes  he  helps. 
The  good  man's  longings  he  fulfils. 
Delivers  those  whose  hands  are  clean. 


Submit  to 
God  with 
humility  and 
he  will 
prosper  you 
(22  :  21-30) 


(2)  JoVs  Reply  (chap.  23) 

My  plaint  is  bitter  even  now. 
His  hand  produces  heavy  sighs, 
O  that  I  could  but  come  to  him. 
Ascend  to  where  his  throne  is  set! 

Before  him  I  would  lay  my  cause, 
And  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments, 

165 


Oh,  if  I 

could  only 
plead  my 
cause  before 
God  himself 
(23  :  1-5) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


Learn  what  he  had  to  answer  me, 
And  mark  the  things  that  he  would  say. 

Would  he  fight  me  with  violence? 
Nay,  he  would  give  an  ear  to  me. 
A  righteous  man  would  plead  with  him, 
And  from  my  judge  I  should  escape. 


He  would 
know  that  I 
am  righteous 
and  obedient 
(23  :  6-12) 


He  knows  the  way  that  I  have  walked. 
As  gold  when  tried  I  should  come  forth. 
For  to  his  step  my  foot  held  fast, 
And  without  fail  his  way  I  kept. 


He  works 
His  will.     I 
am  helpless 
and  afraid 
(23  :  13-17) 


From  his  command  I  have  not  swerved, 
Hid  in  my  heart  was  his  mouth's  word. 
But  he — whoe'er  can  him  restrain? 
He  does  whatever  he  desires. 


He  carries  out  this  plan  of  his, 

And  many  others  of  the  kind. 

With  trembling,  therefore,  I  am  seized; 

When  I  reflect,  I  am  afraid. 


Courage  God  takes  away  from  me, 
The  Most  High  fills  my  heart  with  fear. 
By  darkness  I  am  swallowed  up, 
My  face  is  covered  with  deep  gloom. 
166 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 


(3)  Vagabonds  a?id  Culprits :  An  interpolation  {chap.  24) 

This  chapter  consists  of  four  short  poems:  (i)  vs.  1-4; 
(2)  vs.  5-12;  (3)  vs.  i3-i8a;  (4)  vs.  i8b-24.  The  first 
is  a  lament  over  the  delay  in  the  judgment  of  the  wicked. 
The  poor  are  oppressed;  and  those  who  know  the  Lord  are 
eagerly  looking  for  "  the  day  of  God,"  his  coming  to  avenge 
the  sufferers.  The  second  is  a  description  of  vagabonds 
forced  from  their  home  by  misfortune  and  degenerating 
into  a  criminal  class  preying  on  society.  The  third  refers 
to  a  more  desperate  category  of  thieves,  burglars,  mur- 
derers, and  adulterers  plying  their  nefarious  trade  in  the 
dark.  And  the  fourth  pictures  an  especially  wicked  crim- 
inal whose  punishment  is  momentarily  expected.  They  are 
all  written  in  tristichs,  a  metre  not  used  by  the  author  of 
the  dialogues,  and  form  an  interpolation,  probably  made 
in  the  second  century,  as  has  been  explained  on  p.  94  of 
the  introduction  to  Job. 

(4)  Bildad's  Discourse  (chaps.  25  :  2-6  ;  26  :  5-14) 

Power  and  terror  are  with  him,  How  im- 

Who  in  his  heavens  can  make  peace.  Sferio7is  ^ 

His  troops,  what  man  can  number  them?  (^s^a-e)"^' 
His  light,  on  whom  does  it  not  shine? 

How  could  a  man  be  in  the  right, 
A  mortal  clean  before  his  God? 
167 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


By  his 
power  he 
created  the 
universe  and 
rules  its  in- 
habitants 
(26  :  7-14) 


Even  the  moon — it  does  not  shine, 
And  in  his  sight  stars  are  not  pure. 

The  mighty  giants  are  in  pain, 
Who  far  beneath  the  waters  dwell; 
Naked  lies  hell  before  his  eyes. 
And  Tartarus  no  cover  has. 

Stretched  over  Chaos  lies  the  north; 
He  has  on  nothing  hung  the  earth. 
Within  his  cloud  he  waters  binds, 
Yet  by  them  is  not  rent  the  cloud. 

His  throne's  foundations  he  did  fix, 

And  over  it  he  spread  his  cloud, 

A  circle  drew  upon  the  sea. 

Where  light  and  darkness  were  to  meet. 

The  pillars  of  the  heavens  rocked. 
Startled  and  shocked  at  his  rebuke; 
He  by  his  power  quelled  the  sea. 
He  ravished  Rahab  by  his  skill. 


The  skies  were  brightened  by  his  breath. 
And  he  the  Flying  Serpent  pierced. 
These  are  the  outlines  of  his  ways; 
A  whisper  only  do  we  hear. 
168 


of  the  Poets 


Job '22-31 


(5)  JoVs  Reply  {chap.  27  :  1-5) 

As  God  lives  who  has  done  me  wrong, 
Has  filled  with  bitterness  my  soul, 
My  lips  speak  not  what  is  perverse, 
My  tongue  has  uttered  no  false  word. 

I  will  not  grant  that  you  are  right, 
Will  not  plead  guilty  until  death. 
My  breath  is  still  within  me  whole, 
God's  spirit  in  my  nostrils  dwells. 


God  has 
wronged  me; 
I  speak  the 
truth;  I  can- 
not plead 
guilty 
(27  :  i-S) 


(6)  Zophar's  Discourse  (chap.  27  :  7-23) 

May  my  foe  like  the  wicked  be. 
My  enemy  like  the  unjust! 
For  where  is  for  the  sinner  hope, 
When  God  demands  of  him  his  soul  ? 


Can  a  sinner 
expect  to 
have  God 
listen  to 
him? 
(27  :  7-10) 


Will  God  then  listen  to  his  cry. 
When  sorrow's  hour  upon  him  comes? 
Will  in  the  Most  High  he  exult. 
And  call  at  all  times  on  his  God? 

I  will  inform  thee  of  God's  strength. 
Nor  hide  from  thee  his  mighty  deeds. 
This  is  the  portion  of  the  bad. 
Of  tyrants  this  the  heritage: 
169 


The  wicked 
man  will  lose 
his  children, 
his  property, 
his  very  life; 
men  will  re- 
joice at  his 
fate 
(27  :  11-23) 


Job  22-31  The  Messages 

His  sons  grow  up  to  be  sword's  prey, 
His  offspring  find  no  food  to  eat, 
His  remnant  gets  no  burial, 
No  mourning  do  his  widows  make. 

He  gathers  silver  as  the  dust, 
And  as  the  clay  he  heaps  up  clothes; 
The  righteous  will  his  garments  wear, 
The  poor  his  silver  will  divide. 

He  builds  his  houses  for  the  moth, 
Like  booths  that  watchmen  make  themselves. 
Rich  he  lies  down — does  not  remain; 
Opens  his  eyes — and  then  is  gone. 

A  havoc-making  flood  drowns  him, 
A  nightly  storm  whirls  him  away; 
The  East-wind  lifts  him  up,  hurls  him. 
And  drives  him  far  from  where  he  was. 

It  presses  him,  and  spares  him  not. 
Before  its  power  he  must  flee. 
Over  his  fall  men  clap  their  hands. 
And  hiss  him  as  he  leaves  his  place. 


170 


of  the  Poets 


Job  22-31 


(7)  The  Home  of  Wisdom  :    An  interpolation  {chap.  28) 

Where  is  the  home  of  wisdom? 

Where  is  the  place  of  knowledge? 

A  vein  there  is  for  silver, 

A  place  where  gold  is  washed  out; 

Iron  from  dust  is  taken, 

And  stone  to  brass  is  molten. 

To  utmost  bounds  man  searches 

For  stone  in  deepest  darkness, 

Breaks  shafts  as  he  advances. 

Descends,  on  a  rope  swinging. 

The  earth,  from  which  the  food  comes, 

Below  by  fire  is  wasted; 

Among  its  stones  are  sapphires. 

And  clods  of  gold  are  on  them. 


Where  may 
the  divine 
wisdom  be 
found  ? 
(28 :  1-3) 


Many  things 
hidden  in  the 
earth  are 
brought  to 
light  by  man 
(28  :  4-6) 


Where  is  the  home  of  wisdom? 
Where  is  the  place  of  knowledge? 
The  vulture  knows  the  path  not. 
The  eagle  does  not  see  it. 
The  proud  beasts  step  not  in  it. 
The  lion  in  it  walks  not. 
Man's  hand  seizes  the  firm  rocks, 
Upturns  the  roots  of  mountains, 
Breaks  passages  through  stone  walls, 
171 


But  no  creat- 
ure knows 
the  way  that 
leads  to  the 
home  of  wis- 
dom 
(28:7-11) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


Explores  the  deepest  channels. 
His  eye  sees  what  is  precious, 
And  brings  to  light  the  hidden; 
He  searches  to  the  earth's  ends, 
Scans  all  things  under  heaven. 


Neither 
earth  nor  sea 
can  reveal 
its  hiding- 
place;  and 
no  treasures 
obtained  by 
men  can  pay 
the  price  of  it 
(28  :  12-19) 


Where  is  the  home  of  wisdom? 
Where  is  the  place  of  knowledge? 
The  way  to  it  man  knows  not. 
It  is  not  in  the  earth  found. 
*"Tis  not  in  me,"  the  sea  says; 
The  ocean  says:   "Not  with  me." 
Fine  gold  is  not  paid  for  it. 
Nor  silver  weighed  against  it. 
Not  Ophir  gold  can  buy  it. 
Nor  onyx  stone  nor  sapphire. 
Not  precious  glass  its  price  is. 
Nor  its  exchange  gold  vases. 
Corals  and  crystals  count  not. 
Nor  pearls  nor  Cushite  topaz. 


Death  and 
the  nether 
world  must 
confess  that 
they  know  it 
only  by  hear- 
say 
(28  :  20-22) 


Where  is  the  home  of  wisdom? 
Where  is  the  place  of  knowledge? 
Hid  from  all  living  beings, 
Concealed  from  birds  of  heaven. 
Abyss  and  death  confess  it: 
"We  only  heard  a  rumor." 
172 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 

God  to  its  home  the  way  knew,  But  Ood 

Its  dwelling-place  discovered,  its  home  was, 

When  to  the  wind  he  weight  gave,  us'^eTiUn  the 

And  measured  out  the  waters,  the  woSd^ 

When  he  made  for  the  rain  law,  ^^8  :  23-27) 
A  way  for  flash  of  thunder. 
Then  he  saw  and  approved  it. 
And  tried  it  as  a  model 


The  poet's  question  "Wisdom,  where  may  it  be  found, 
where  is  the  place  of  knowledge?"  beginning  the  third 
and  fourth  strophes,  verses  12  and  20,  originally,  no  doubt, 
began  the  first  and  second  strophes  as  well,  and  are  to 
be  inserted  before  verses  i  and  7,  as  has  been  suggested 
by  Professor  Duhm.  In  verse  3  "an  end  he  puts  to  dark- 
ness" is  a  gloss,  possibly  referring  to  the  miner's  lamp. 
The  terms  nahal,  wadi,  river-bed,  verse  4,  and  yeorim, 
Nile  arms,  and  neharoth,  channels,  verse  10,  are  not  in- 
appropriately used  of  the  shafts  and  passages  cut  by  the 
miner  in  the  mountain.  "With  a  stranger"  (perhaps 
"with  the  aid  of  foreigners")  and  "the  forgotten  ones" 
are  clearly  glosses.  Verse  24  should  be  transferred  to  the 
end  of  the  second  strophe.  In  verse  27  "he  set  it  up  and 
searched  it  out"  implies  that,  having  examined  and  ap- 
proved it,  he  placed  its  suggestions  before  him  as  a  model, 
traced  out  its  design,  tested  its  potentialities,  in  the  actual 
work  of  creation.  Verse  28  is  an  obvious  addition.  The 
173 


Job  22-31  The  Messages 

wisdom  hidden  from  all  living  beings  and  only  discovered 
by  God  himself  when  he  created  the  world  is  not  "the  fear 
of  the  Lord." 

In  the  Hellenistic  period  the  Palestinian  Jews  became 
familiar  with  the  Greek  speculations  concerning  Sophia, 
or  the  divine  wisdom.  It  was  not  the  personification  of 
a  divine  attribute,  but  the  rationalization  of  a  mythical 
concept.  The  relations  of  Zeus  to  Demeter,  Kore-Pro- 
serpina,  and  Pallas  Athena  called  for  allegorical  exegesis; 
the  virgin -spouse,  the  unmothered  goddess  of  wisdom, 
became  wisdom  itself,  and  the  same  process  may  be  seen 
in  Egyptian  and  Oriental  cults.  Not  only  in  Gnosticism, 
but  in  many  systems  of  speculative  thought,  mythical 
remnants  were  left  indicating  the  origin.  In  this  chapter, 
as  in  Prov.  8  :  22  fif..  Wisdom  is  a  personality  distinct 
from  God.  Here  she  has  her  abode  in  a  hidden  place 
known  to  no  creature,  but  discovered  by  God.  His  visit 
to  her  is  connected  with  the  great  primeval  event,  the 
separation  of  sea  and  land,  leading  to  the  creation  of  all 
things  on  the  earth.  God  gives  weight  to  the  wind;  his 
breath  evidently  blows  with  tremendous  force  on  the  waters. 
He  metes  out  the  waters  with  a  measure;  having  laid  bare 
the  dry  land,  he  fixes  the  limits  of  the  ocean,  and  regulates 
the  supply  of  rain.  This  initial  creative  act  suggests  all 
that  follows.  The  supreme  worth  of  Wisdom  is  demon- 
strated. Seen  and  examined,  standing  before  him  and 
searched  through  and  through,  it  is  approved  and  vindi- 

174 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 

cated.  In  Prov.  8  :  22  ff.  Wisdom  is  also  present  at  the 
creation  of  the  world.  But  there  she  is  chiefly  rejoicing, 
as  one  thing  after  another  appears.  She  laughs  and  plays 
before  God,  and  sports  with  the  sons  of  God  (we  should 
probably  read  bene  elim  for  bene  adam,  in  verse  31),  who 
themselves  are  rejoicing  and  singing  together. 

This  Divine  Wisdom  is  beyond  man's  reach.  Into  the 
deepest  recesses  of  the  mountains  he  goes  in  search  of 
silver  and  gold,  iron,  copper,  and  precious  stones.  But 
to  the  home  of  wisdom  he  comes  not.  The  birds  of  heaven 
may  see  far,  and  the  proud  beasts  of  the  desert  wander  in 
many  places  untrodden  by  man's  foot.  In  search  of  gain, 
man  may  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  scan  everything 
under  heaven.  But  wisdom's  home  is  not  in  the  earth, 
nor  in  the  ocean.  All  the  wealth  gained  by  man  cannot 
buy  it.  And  even  the  world  below  where  the  shades  dwell 
only  hears  a  rumor  of  its  excellence.  God  keeps  the  secret 
of  its  abode. 

This  chapter  contains  the  only  description  of  mining 
operations  that  has  come  down  to  us  from  Hebrew  an- 
tiquity. The  author  may  have  seen  them  in  the  Lebanon 
district,  at  Phainon  {kalat  Fenan)  in  Mt.  Seir,  or  on  the 
Sinaitic  peninsula.  The  onyx,  or  shoham-stone  (Assyrian 
samtu),  may  have  been  a  malachite  found  on  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula,  and  the  sapphire  may  have  been  the  lapis  lazuli, 
so  often  brought  by  Babylonian  kings  from  the  same  dis- 
trict, or  north-western  Arabia.     Though  the  chapter  is 

175 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


clearly  an  interpolation,  and  scarcely  is  older  than  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  century  B.  C,  it  is  not  without 
marked  poetic  beauty,  and  is  significant  as  an  early  indi- 
cation of  that  tendency  of  thought  which  brought  in  so 
many  important  intermediaries  between  the  Most  High 
and  man.  Each  of  the  four  strophes  are  made  of  three 
tetrastichs,  prefaced  by  the  same  distich. 


In  former 
days  God 
was  my 
friend,  and  I 
was  prosper- 
ous 
(29  :  1-6) 


I  was  re- 
spected by 
young  and 
old  alike,  by 
princes  and 
nobles 
(29  :  7-10) 


(8)  JoVs  Reply  {chaps.  29-31) 

The  months  of  old,  where  are  they  now, 
The  days  when  God  watched  over  me. 
When  over  me  his  lamp  did  shine. 
His  light  above  me  in  the  dark. 

The  days  when  I  was  prosperous, 
When  God  my  tent  protected  well? 
I  washed  myself  in  thick  milk  then. 
And  streams  of  oil  poured  from  the  rock. 

When  I  went  up  to  the  town -gate, 
Or  I  was  seated  in  the  square. 
Youth  saw  me — quickly  disappeared, 
Old  men  arose,  stood  on  their  feet. 

Right  in  their  speeches  princes  paused, 
And  laid  their  hands  upon  their  mouth. 
Hushed  was  the  voice  of  noble  men, 
And  to  their  palate  clave  their  tongue. 
176 


of  the  Poets 


Job  22-31 


Ear  heard  and— praised  me  happy  then, 
Eye  saw  and— testified  to  this, 
That  sufferers  I  gave  my  aid, 
The  orphan  and  the  needy  helped. 

The  hungry  I  did  blessings  bring, 
I  made  the  widow's  heart  rejoice, 
Right  was  the  turban  on  my  head, 
I  Justice  as  a  mantle  wore. 

To  guide  the  blind  I  was  his  eyes. 
And  to  the  lame  I  was  his  foot, 
A  father  was  I  to  the  poor, 
I  for  the  stranger  justice  sought. 

I  brake  the  wicked  tyrant's  fangs. 
And  from  his  teeth  I  snatched  the  prey, 
"I  in  my  nest  shall  die,"  thought  I, 
"And  as  the  phoenix  be  long-lived. 

"My  root  toward  the  waters  spreads. 
Dew  falls  all  night  upon  my  branch. 
Fresh  is  my  glory  every  day. 
And  in  my  hand  my  bow  is  firm." 

They  listened,  waited  for  my  word. 
My  counsel  they  in  silence  heard. 
When  I  had  finished,  they  spake  not. 
My  speech  had  its  effect  on  them. 
177 


I  helped  the 
suffering  and 
blessed  the 
poor  and 
gave  justice 
to  all 
(29  :  11-17) 


I  hoped  to 
continue 
such  prac- 
tices all  my 
life 
(29  :  i8~2s) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


But  now  I 
am  mocked 
by  every  one, 
and  attacked 
as  an  enemy 
(30  :  1-15) 


I  suffer  ex- 
cruciating 
tortures 
(30  :  16-19) 


But  now  they  only  mock  at  me, 
A  byword  I  am  now  to  them. 
They  with  abhorrence  turn  aside 
And  dare  to  spit  into  my  face. 

My  cord  they  loose  and  bend  me  down, 
Throw  ofif  the  bridle  of  restraint, 
Rise  as  an  army  by  my  side, 
Prepare  their  strategies  for  me. 

My  pathway  they  completely  spoil, 
Destroy  the  road  on  which  I  walked; 
Surround  me  with  their  archers  swift. 
Break  in  as  rushing  through  a  breach. 

Under  the  crash  they  then  roll  in. 
And  turn  their  terrors  upon  me. 
My  fortune  goes  like  wind  that  blows. 
My  glory  passes  like  a  cloud. 

My  soul  within  me  is  poured  out. 
My  day  of  sorrow  has  arrived. 
My  bones  are  pierced  by  ghoulish  night. 
My  gnawing  pains  are  not  asleep. 

My  skin  is  by  a  strong  force  pinched. 
As  tunic's  collar  it  is  tight. 
God  throws  me  down  into  the  mire. 
Like  dust  and  ashes  I  am  hurled. 

178 


of  the  Poets 


Job  22-31 


I  cry — thou  hearest  not  my  voice; 
Unmoved  thou  only  look'st  at  me; 
Thou  hast  become  an  enemy, 
Most  fiercely  dost  thou  combat  me. 

Thou  mak'st  the  wind  my  chariot, 
And  beyond  help  dissolvest  me; 
To  death,  I  know,  thou  leadest  me. 
The  home  where  all  the  living  meet. 

Will  not  the  drowning  man  stretch  out 
His  hand  and  for  assistance  cry? 
Laments  not  he  whose  day  is  hard, 
And  is  the  perishing  not  grieved? 

I  looked  for  good,  and  evil  came; 
I  longed  for  light,  and  gloom  ensued. 
My  bowels  boil,  they  are  not  still: 
For  days  of  anguish  hold  me  fast. 

Dark  am  I,  but  not  from  the  sun. 
I  rise  up  in  the  crowd  and  cry: 
"Of  jackals  I  a  brother  am, 
Of  ostriches  a  relative!" 

My  blackened  skin  falls  off  from  me, 
My  bones  are  burning  up  with  heat. 
A  mourning  wail  takes  my  harp's  place, 
To  sorrow's  voice  my  pipe  is  used. 
179 


God  seems 
to  have  be- 
come my 
enemy 
(30  :  20-23) 


I  find  no 
helper,  no 
relief 
(30  :  24-31) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


God  knows 
that  I  am 
not  an  evil- 
doer 
(31  :  1-4) 


Let  Him 

judge  my 
freedom 
from  deceit 
(30  :  5,  6) 


My  upright- 
ness, ray  un- 
stained 
honor 
(31  :  7-12) 


I  made  a  compact  with  my  eyes 
Never  to  look  upon  a  maid. 
What  else  would  God's  allotment  be, 
And  from  on  high  his  heritage? 

For  wicked  men  destruction  sure, 
For  evil-doers  ruin  swift. 
Does  he  not  all  my  way  behold? 
Does  he  not  number  all  my  steps? 

If  I  in  vanity  have  walked, 
And  if  my  foot  to  wrong  made  haste, 
Let  God  in  balances  weigh  me, 
That  I  am  guiltless  he  will  see. 

If  from  the  way  my  step  has  turned, 
And  if  my  eye  my  heart  beguiled, 
Then  let  me  sow,  another  eat. 
And  perish  may  my  sprouted  grass! 

If  e'er  bewitched  by  woman's  grace, 
A  spy  I  played  at  neighbor's  door, 
Let  my  wife  grind  for  others  grist, 
Over  her  form  let  others  crouch! 

Shame  this  would  be,  apostasy, 
A  crime  for  judges  to  deal  with: 
A  fire  to  hell  pursuing  me, 
Consuming  all  my  substance  here. 
180 


of  the  Poets 


Job  22-31 


I  ne'er  my  slave's  right  have  despised, 
Or  slave-girl's,  quarrelling  with  me. 
Who  fashioned  me  made  him  as  well, 
Within  the  womb  he  formed  us  both. 

If  I  should  turn  the  poor  man  down, 
Or  cause  the  widow's  eyes  to  fail, 
Or  eat  my  morsels  all  alone. 
The  orphan  sharing  not  with  me; 

What  could  I  do,  if  God  should  rise. 
What  answer,  should  he  question  me? 
From  tender  youth  he  brought  me  up, 
As  father  led  me  from  the  womb. 

If  I  the  naked  perish  saw, 

And  without  cover  left  the  poor, 

And  his  loins  me  no  blessing  gave, 

He  was  not  warmed  from  my  lambs'  fleece; 

If  my  hand  struck  an  orphan  down,  . 
A  helpless  pleader  in  the  gate, 
Let  from  the  shoulder  this  arm  fall, 
From  out  its  socket  this  my  arm! 

If  I  my  safety  sought  in  gold. 
Or  made  fine  gold  my  confidence, 
Rejoiced  that  I  possessed  great  wealth, 
That  much  my  hand  had  gotten  me, 
181 


My  fairness, 
my  gener- 
osity 
(31  :  13-18) 


My  good- 
ness, my  lack 
of  avarice, 
my  freedom 
from  idol- 
atry 
(31  :  ijraS) 


Job  22-31 


The  Messages 


My  straight- 
forwardness, 
my  bounty, 
my  judg- 
ment, my 
courage 
(3i|:  29-34, 
38-40) 


If  .1  the  sun  saw  shining  bright, 
Or  in  its  glory  the  moon  march, 
And,  heart-enticed,  in  secret  I 
Did  worship,  kissing  hand  to  them, 

A  crime  'twould  be  condemning  me. 
Faithless  were  I  to  the  Most  High. 
In  that  case,  let  God's  terrors  come! 
Let  them  attain  me!     I  am  doomed. 

I  ne'er  was  pleased  by  foeman's  fall, 
No  joy  his  misery  gave  me. 
My  mouth  in  sin  I  opened  not 
To  curse  him,  or  to  wish  him  dead. 

The  men  of  my  tent  never  said: 
"O  that  we  could  have  flesh  to  eat!" 
The  stranger  never  stayed  outside. 
Because  my  door  was  closed  to  him. 

If  against  me  my  land  cried  out. 

Its  furrows  wept  on  my  account. 

Let  thorns  grow  where  the  wheat  should  be. 

Instead  of  barley  weeds  sprout  forth! 

I  have  not  hid  my  guilt  from  men, 
For  fear  of  the  great  multitude. 
Nor  frightened  by  the  clans'  contempt, 
Silent  remained  within  my  tent. 
182 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 

O  that  I  had  one  who  would  hear!  I  appeal  to 

See  my  last  word!     Let  God  reply!  an'dpfale 

0  that  I  had  the  book-roll  here,  d'endy  b?£re 
With  the  charge  written  by  my  foe!  SiSc?nt°°^ 

(31 :  35-37) 

1  would  lift  it  upon  my  head, 
And  bind  it  to  me  like  a  crown. 
I  would  account  for  all  my  steps, 
And  would  receive  him  like  a  prince. 


2.  Summary  of  the  Argument 

I.  Beginning  the  third  cycle  of  the  dialogues,  Eliphaz 
points  out  that  God  in  no  way  can  be  said  to  derive  profit 
from  man's  goodness  or  justice,  but  is  not  likely,  either,  to 
punish  and  rebuke  piety.  The  only  possible  explanation, 
after  all,  is  that  Job's  corruption  is  exceedingly  great,  and 
his  transgression  without  bounds.  He  no  doubt  had  been 
perfectly  unscrupulous  and  merciless,  thinking  all  the  while 
that  God  did  not  notice  it,  or  know  it  at  all.  A  kind  of 
deistic  conception  is  suggested  which  perhaps  was  to 
some  extent  met  with  at  the  time  when  the  dialogues  were 
written.  The  reference  to  the  deluge  is  unmistakable,  but 
no  story  known  at  the  present  time  connects  this  castas- 
trophe  with  fire  as  well  as  water.  "Their  remnant  has  the 
fire  consumed"  may  allude  to  a  myth  of  Persian  origin. 
Eliphaz,  though  now  convinced  of  Job's  guilt,  bids  him 

X83 


Job  22-31  The  Messages 

make  peace  with  God,  and  prosperity  may  come  once 
more,  for  ''those  of  downcast  eyes  he  helps." 

2.  Job's  reply  is  a  plea  for  the  opportunity  of  presenting 
his  cause  to  God  himself,  and  a  dignified  assertion  of  his 
integrity.  He  knows  himself  to  be  a  righteous  man,  and 
would  feel  the  utmost  confidence,  were  it  not  that  God  does 
what  pleases  him,  and  he  cannot  feel  sure  that  only  the 
right  thing  pleases  him. 

3.  Bildad  emphasizes  the  power  and  terror  of  God  as 
shown  in  his  reign  in  heaven  and  hell.  He  makes  peace 
among  the  rebels  in  heaven.  The  heavenly  bodies  are  not 
pure  in  his  sight.  The  great  giants  of  ancient  times  are  in 
pain  where  they  dwell  under  the  waters.  Hell  lies  naked 
before  him,  and  Abaddon  has  no  cover.  The  author  con- 
ceived of  Chaos  as  being  in  the  north,  and  of  the  earth  as 
hanging  on  nothing.  This  seems  to  be  due  to  Hellenistic 
influence.  Rahab  was  the  female  chaos  monster.  The 
Flying  Serpent  coiled  in  the  primeval  ocean. 

4.  In  replying  Job  pays  no  attention  to  these  mythologi- 
cal achievements.  He  insists  with  terrible  earnestness  that 
God  has  wronged  him,  that  he  tells  the  truth,  and  that  he 
will  not  as  long  as  he  lives  acknowledge  that  they  are  right. 
His  speech  occupies  only  the  first  five  verses  of  chapter  27. 

5.  The  indication  of  the  speaker  has  fallen  out  in  the 
case  of  Zophar's  last  address,  probably  at  an  early  time,  as 
in  neither  the  Hebrew  text  nor  the  versions  the  name  has 
been  preserved.     It  is  perfectly  evident,  however,  that  from 

184 


of  the  Poets  Job  22-31 

verse  7  on  Job  cannot  be  the  speaker,  and  the  general 
structure  of  the  poem  shows  that  it  is  Zophar's  name  that 
by  the  omission  of  some  early  copyist  has  been  left  out. 
There  is  no  new  or  important  thought  in  Zophar's  last 
speech.     Like  the  other  friends,  he  ends  rather  weakly. 

6.  On  the  other  hand.  Job  concludes  this  third  cycle 
with  a  long  and  splendid  apologia  pro  vita  sua.  It  first 
describes  his  former  prosperity  and  the  solid  basis  of  justice 
and  mercy  on  which  it  seemed  to  rest.  Then  comes  a 
pathetic  description  of  the  leper's  sad  plight.  The  longer 
part,  however,  is  occupied  with  a  denial  in  detail  of  charges 
that  might  be  made  against  him.  This  is  one  of  the  most 
important  documents  from  Hebrew  antiquity,  from  an 
ethical  point  of  view,  because  it  sets  forth  a  moral  ideal  in 
some  respects  higher  than  any  other  presented  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  as  has  been  shown  in  the  introduction  to 
this  book.  The  dialogues  end  with  the  proud  challenge 
of  Job  to  the  Most  High  to  produce  the  scroll  on  which  the 
charge  against  him  had  been  written  by  his  foe.  This 
charge  he  would  place  upon  his  head  like  a  crown,  and 
receive  the  Almighty  like  a  prince,  in  the  consciousness 
that  he  would  be  able  to  account  for  all  his  steps. 


J85 


Job  22-31  The  Messages 

3/  The  Value  of  the  Discussion 

The  third  cycle  of  dialogues  represents  the  friends  as 
charging  Job  individually  and  directly  with  sinfulness. 
Even  Eliphaz  declares  that  he  must  have  been  unscrupu- 
lous in  his  treatment  of  his  fellow-men.  Bildad  assumes 
the  guilt  and  simply  urges  that  all  men  are  sinners  in  God's 
pure  sight.  Zophar,  in  describing  the  wicked  man's  fate 
(27  :  13-23),  parallels  the  condition  of  Job.  But  none  of 
them  adds  anything  to  the  arguments  already  presented. 

Job,  on  the  other  hand,  reasserts  his  real  righteousness 
and  truthfulness.  His  only  reason  for  anxiety  is  that  he 
is  not  sure  that  God's  pleasure  is  determined  by  that  which 
is  intrinsically  right  (23  :  13).  But  however  that  may  be, 
he  concludes  by  reviewing  his  days  of  prosperity  and 
honor,  by  describing  his  present  agony  and  humiliation, 
and  by  declaring  that  of  intentional  wickedness  he  was 
absolutely  innocent. 


4.  The  Result  of  the  Three  Cycles  of  Dialogue 

The  outcome  of  these  eighteen  discourses  is  largely 
negative — Job  has  received  no  answer  to  his  appeals.  He 
has  shown  the  inadequacy  of  the  arguments  brought  for- 
ward by  the  friends,  but  has  come  to  no  final  conclusion 
concerning  the  reason  for  his  sufferings.  Yet  he  has  re- 
mained true  to  his  ideals:  he  has  refused  to  twist  the  facts 
186 


of  the  Poets  Job  32-37 

of  life,  and  he  has  had  momentary  glimpses  of  a  higher 
God-conception  which  has  to  some  extent  strengthened  his 
confidence  in  a  moral  order  in  the  universe,  though  different 
from  that  imagined  by  the  friends. 

VII 


{Chaps,  32-37) 

The  speeches  of  Elihu  form  a  very  distinctly  marked  sec- 
tion by  themselves.  The  reasons  for  referring  them  to  a 
later  and  inferior  writer  than  the  author  of  the  dialogues 
are  stated  on  pp.  SQf.  of  the  introduction  to  Job.  They 
are,  anyhow,  the  utterances  of  a  pompous,  self-conceited, 
and  rather  tedious  young  fellow,  who  virtually  repeats  the 
arguments  already  advanced. 

I.  The  Paraphrase 

(i)  Suffering  Sometimes  a  Means  of  Self-Knowledge 
{chaps.  32  :  6-33  :  2>Z) 

Because  of  my  youth  I  have  held  back  and  not  dared  to  As  a  young 
express  my  opinion.     I  thought  it  proper  that  those  who  Et'ate/tcf 
were  older  should  set  forth  their  wisdom.     But  understand-  d^scussion""^ 
ing  depends  upon  the  spirit  that  is  within  a  man,  and  it  is  ^^^  •  ^"^°^ 
the  breath  of  the  Almighty  that  gives  insight.     Length  of 
life  does  not  always  impart  wisdom,  and  old  men  do  not 

187 


Job  32-37  The  Messages 

always  see  what  is  right.    Therefore  I  now  say:  Listen  to 

You  have      me,  and  I  will  voice  my  opinion.     I  have  been  listening  to 

vinced  job    youT  arguments,  but  there  was  none  of  you  who  convinced 

(32^fii-i4)  Job  or  could  properly  answer  his  words.     Nor  would  it  do 

for  you  to  maintain  that  in  this  case  you  have  come  upon 

such  wisdom  as  only  God  can  deal  with,  and  no  mere  man. 

He  has  not  addressed  himself  to  me  yet,  and  I  shall  not 

I  am  full  of  answer  him  in  the  manner  you  do.     For  I  am  full  of  words, 

Famiio^      and  the  spirit  within  me  forces  me  to  utter  them.    My 

batterer  ^^    ^ody  is  like  a  new  wine-skin  ready  to  burst  with  the  wine. 

(32 :  is-22)  J  jjjyg|.  speak,  open  my  lips,  talk,  or  I  shall  have  no  relief. 

I  shall  not  show  any  partisanship  or  flatter  anybody. 

That  is  an  art  that  I  do  not  know  and  also  a  dangerous  one, 

for  if  a  man  is  not  impartial  and  truthful,  he  is  likely  to  be 

carried  away  suddenly  by  God's  judgment. 

Listen  to  me,     Now,  therefore.  Job,  listen  to  my  words.     I  need  only 

makean^     to  Open  my  mouth  and  let  my  tongue  speak,  and  at  once 

swer,  if  you  ^^  mind  sends  forth  a  stream  of  wise  words.    If  thou  art 

(33  : 1-7)      able  to  give  any  answer,  thou  mayest  rise  and  do  so.    Thou 

needst  not  be  afraid.     For  compared  with  God  I  am  like 

thyself,  taken  from  the  clay  just  as  thou  art;  the  terror 

of  me  will  not  unman  thee  nor  will  my  hand  press  heavily  on 

Your  asser-   thee.    Thou  didst  say  in  my  hearing:  " I  am  clean  and  have 

yourseifTnd  Committed  no  transgression,  but  he  seeks  for  pretexts  to  at- 

agains?G??  ^ack  me  as  an  enemy;  he  gives  no  answer  when  I  cry,  and 

answered      ^^^^^  himself  from  me."     In  this  thou  art  wrong;  for  God 

(33  : 8-12)    is  greater  than  man.     It  is  not  wise  to  contend  against  him 

188 


of  the  Poets  Job  32-37 

and  declare  that  he  does  not  give  answer.     For  he  speaks  Ood  speak* 
in  one  way  and  does  not  contradict  it  when  he  speaks  in  various^ays 
another.     Sometimes  it  is  through  a  dream,  a  vision  in  the  [hem^  some- 
night,  when  he  opens  the  ear  to  hear  terror-inspiring  oracles,  JjJ^^" 
and  the  eyes  to  see  images  of  fearful  import,  in  order  to  lead  (33  =  13-18) 
a  man  away  from  wrong-doing  or  to  drive  out  pride,  and 
thus  to  save  him  from  premature  death.     At  other  times  Again  in 
he  chastens  a  man  with  pain  on  his  bed;  he  loses  his  appe-  ness 
tite,  can  eat  nothing,  becomes  so  lean  that  his  bones  stick  ^^^ '  ^^^^' 
out,  and  he  approaches  the  grave  and  the  angels  of  death 
claim  his  life.    Then  his  guardian  angel,  the  mediator,  one  When  one's 
of  the  thousand  that  have  charge  of  human  souls,  shows  Ingei  shows 
him  what  belongs  to  his  righteousness,  takes  mercy  on  him  cinditfon  of 
and  proclaims:  "Deliver  him  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  Jivtrshim^^" 
I  have  received  a  ransom;   let  his  flesh  be  fresher  than  a  (33  =  23-25) 
child's,  let  him  return  to  the  days  of  his  youth!"     He  now  So  that  he  re- 
can  approach  God  again  freely  and  is  received  with  favor;  jSces  again" 
he  sees  his  face  with  joy,  tells  men  of  his  faithfulness,  and  (^^  :^26-28) 
recounts  in  a  hymn  his  story:    "I  had  sinned  and  done 
what  was  wrong,  but  he  did  not  punish  me  according  to 
my  guilt;  he  saved  my  life  from  hell,  and  my  soul  rejoices 
in  the  light." 


189 


Job  32-37  The  Messages 

(2)  The  Justness  of  God  {chap.  34) 

Job  testifies       Hear  my  words,  ye  sages,  for  the  ear  tries  words,  as  the 

slif  when  he  palate  tastes  meat.    Let  us  decide  among  us  what  is  right  and 

fnnoce?ce'^   true.     Job  has  said :  * '  I  am  righteous  and  God  has  wronged 

wrongSfofng  "^^>  ^^  ^P^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^  ^"^  j^^t  and  have  committed 

(34 : 1-9)     no  transgression  I  am  smitten  with  incurable  wounds." 

Was  there  ever  a  man  like  Job  ?    He  drinks  up  blasphemies 

like  water.     He  keeps  company  with  bad  men;  for  he  says 

that  it  does  not  profit  a  man  to  be  in  friendly  relations 

God  is         with  God.     But  the  Almighty  does  nothing  that  is  wrong, 

righteous  ,    .  ,  ,  ,.  ,  .  , 

and  with       and  he  renders  to  each  man  accordmg  to  his  conduct. 

Jower  ^       No  one  gave  him  charge  over  the  earth  or  intrusted  the 

(34 :  10-15)  ^Qj.j(j  J.Q  jjjg  jj^eeping.     He  is  the  absolute  ruler.     If  he 

takes  away  his  spirit  and  draws  the  breath  away  from  the 

He  deals       body,  man  returns  to  the  dust.     Is  it  possible  to  imagine 

He  wnf        that  the  world  can  be  governed  by  one  who  hates  righteous- 

(34:16-20)  jjgggp    ^^[\\  j^g  really  condemn  him    that   is   just   and 

mighty?    He  says  to  a  king:    "Thou  wretch!"  and  to 

nobles:    "Ye  wicked  ones!"     He  does  not  respect  the 

persons  of  princes,  and  regards  not  the  rich  more  than  the 

poor.     For  they  are  all  the  work  of  his  hands.     They  die 

Understand-  ^^  ^  moment;    they  are  cast  off  from  their  people;    the 

ing  them,  He  mighty  are  taken  away  without  a  stroke  of  the  hand.     His 

acts  swiftly  o     y  -' 

and  sum-  eyes  are  on  all  the  ways  a  man  walks,  and  he  sees  all  their 
that  wicked-  steps.  There  is  no  darkness  so  deep  that  evil-doers  can 
become  ^  °°  hide  in  it.  For  he  sets  no  time  when  men  know  that  they 
(34^^21-30)  Diust  appear   before   his  judgment  seat.     He  breaks  in 

190 


of  the  Poets  Job  32-37 

pieces   the   mighty  without   an   investigation,    and   puts 
others  in  their  places.      Knowing  their  works,  he  over- 
turns them  in  the  night,  and  they  are  crushed:   he  strikes 
them  in  the  sight  of  all,  listening  to  the  complaint  of  the 
lowly  and  the  cry  of  the  patient  sufferers.     If  he  is  quiet, 
who  can  find  fault  ?     If  he  hides  his  face,  who  can  see  him  ? 
But  he  watches  over  nations  and  individuals  that  the  god- 
less may  not  reign.    Thou  mayest  decide  for  thyself  whether  Can  such  an 
he  should  recompense  as  it  pleases  thee  or  according  to  his  j'udged  fair- 
own  will.     Men  of  intelligence  must  admit  that  Job  has  j J^j JjJ*  ^^'^^^ 
not  spoken  with  true  insight.     May  he  be  warned  in  regard  (34  :  31-37) 
to  his  speeches  which  are  like  those  of  the  wicked.     For 
he  only  increases  his  sins  by  multiplying  his  words  against 
God. 

(3)  The  Apparent  Unprofitableness  of  Piety  (chap.  35) 

Thou  seemest  to  regard  this  as  correct  behavior  and  call-  Job  says  that 
est  it  "my  right  against  God."     Thou  intimatest  that  thou  nfss  see"ms 
hast  had  no  profit  from  piety,  and  that  thou  mightest  as  well  profitable 
have  lived  in  sin.     I  will  answer  thee  and  all  who  hold  the  Jj^g^  wicked- 
same  opinion.     Look  up  to  heaven  and  behold  the  firma-  ^35 : 1-4) 
ment.     If  thou  hast  sinned,  how  does  that  affect  him  ?     If  Can  it  pos- 
thou  art  righteous,  it  adds  nothing  to  what  he  has.  It  is  only  any  moment 
men  whom  thou  canst  hurt  by  thy  wickedness  or  help  by  J^hjch  one 
thy  righteous  conduct.     Truly,  Job  opens  his  mouth  in  van-  ('"^^."^fg) 
ity  and  makes  long  speeches  without  any  understanding. 
191 


.  Job  32-37  The  Messages 

Tob  does  not  He  does  not  ask,  Where  is  God,  my  creator,  who  gives 
self  before  songs  in  the  night,  who  makes  us  wiser  than  the  animals 
wJithrs^  on  the  earth  and  the  birds  of  heaven?  God  does  not 
?3S^^^i6)  listen  to  idle  talk.  How  canst  thou  say  that  thou  dost 
not  see  him  ?    Be  silent  and  wait  for  him. 


(4)  The  Necessity  0}  Submission  to  the  Merciful,  Just,  and 
Inscrutable  Will  0}  God  {chaps.  36-37) 

Let  me  I  would  Still  instruct  you  a  little  further  and  speak  on 

teSr  behalf  of  God.  I  will  bring  my  knowledge  from  afar  and 
°J™y^°°^'"  justify  my  creator.  My  words  are  not  false,  for  here 
(36  : 1-4)  stands  before  you  one  who  is  perfect  in  knowledge.  God 
God  never  does  not  leave  the  guilty  alive,  he  accords  to  the  afficted 
guu^t°bufhe  their  right.  He  always  delivers  the  humble.  But  when 
andmfsery  he  Icts  kings  sit  upon  their  thrones  until  they  become  arro- 
ers^of  m'en^'  g^^^j  ^^^  ^^^Y  ^^^  bound  in  chains  and  held  in  the  cords 
(36 : 5-10)    of  misery,  he  shows  them  their  transgressions  caused  by 

pride,  opens  their  ears  and  bids  them  repent;  if  they  do  so 
Those  who  they  spend  their  days  in  happiness,  if  not,  they  go  to  hell 
fook^r  Usten  and  die  in  their  folly,  not  even  crying  for  mercy  when  he 
grS^  *°  binds  them.  They  die  in  youth,  or  lose  their  manhood's 
(36 :  11-16)  strength  among  Sodomites.     But  he  saves  the  patient 

through  his  patience,  and  opens  his  ear  through  affliction. 
Job's  pros-    It   was  thy  fortune  that  deceived  thee.     Thou  wert  so 

peritywas  ''  .     ,  ,  .  .        , 

too  much  for  prosperous  that  thou  beganst  to  judge  thmgs  m  tne  way 
(36^^17-^3"  the  wicked  do,  and  their  judgment  was  meted  out  to  thee. 

192 


of  the  Poets  Job  32-37 

Now  let  not  thy  punishment  lead  thee  to  scorn  because  of 
the  high  price  that  thou  must  pay  to  be  ransomed.  Let 
not  a  foolish  pride  lead  thee  astray;  take  heed  lest  thou  pre- 
ferrest  iniquity  to  affliction  patiently  borne. 

God  is  exalted  in   power.    He  is  the  incomparable  God's  power 
teacher.     No  one  prescribes  how  he  should  act,  no  one  exhibUs  it  !n 
could  say:    "Thou  hast  acted  wrongly."     The  wonders  ^J^g^^^^h 
of  his  creation  fill  the  hearts  of  all  men  with  joy.     He  ^J^jJ^j^°JJjg 
draws  drops  of  water  up  out  of  the  sea,  and  brings  rain  (36:24- 
out  of  the  clouds.     He  distributes  food  to  the  nations. 
The  thunder-bolt  is  his  weapon,  the  thunder  his  war-cry. 
Incomprehensibly  great  are  the  things  he  does.     He  sends 
the  snow  as  well  as  the  rain,  the  hot  wind  from  the  cham- 
bers of  the  south,  and  the  cold  from  the  northern  stars. 
He  breathes  and  the  water  lies  captured  in  the  form  of  ice, 
and  uses  hail  as  well  as  lightning  to  accomplish  his  terrible 
or  gracious  purposes.     How  much,  O  Job,  dost  thou  un-  Can  you  un- 
derstand of  all  this  ?    It  is  fooHsh,  indeed,  of  a  human  gS^o  job, 
being  to  criticise  the  divine  wisdom,  as  though  he  had  been  evSterms 
present  at  the  time  of  creation  when  the  firmament  was^jJ^J'^'* 
spread  out  like  a  mirror.     The  majesty  of  God  may  be  Pervert  jus- 
seen,  but  he  himself  is  past  finding  out.     Powerful  he  is  (37 :  14-24) 
and  altogether  just.     How  could  he  ever  pervert  justice? 
Therefore  men  should  fear  him.     He  has  no  regard  for 
those  who  are  wise  in  their  own  conceits. 


193 


Job  38-41  The  Messages 

VIII 

THE   COLLOQUY    OF   YAHWE   WITH  JOB 
(Chaps.  38-41) 

The  original  Job  story,  according  to  chap.  42  :  7,  con- 
tained some  words  of  Yahwe  to  Job,  apparently,  however,  an 
approval  of  the  position  he  had  taken  and  a  condemnation 
of  that  of  the  friends.  The  long  address  which  is  found  in 
chapters  38-41  expresses  no  approval  but  rather  a  direct 
or  implied  criticism  of  Job.  As  has  already  been  noted 
on  pp.  90-94  of  the  Introduction  to  Job,  these  chapters  have 
great  literary  merit  and  might  have  been  composed  by 
the  author  of  the  dialogues.  But  they  do  not  suggest  an 
answer  to  Job's  problem.  They  merely  set  forth  impres- 
sively what  he  has  already  conceded  concerning  the  power 
and  greatness  of  God.  Whether  this  in  any  sense  meets 
the  needs  Job  may  be  seriously  questioned. 

I.  The  Translation. 
(i)  Tlw  Speech  of  Yahwe  {chaps.  38-40:  2,  8-14) 
I  challenge  Who  darkens  here  the  great  world-plan, 

to  answer"  '  With  empty  words,  of  knowledge  void  ? 

myquesUons  qjj-^j  ^^vom  a  soldier  like,  thy  loins, 

And  I  will  ask,  inform  me  thou! 

Did  you  Where  wert  thou  when  I  made  the  earth  ? 

workVf^^  Declare  what  thou  didst  notice  then! 

(38^' 4^^)  Who  fixed  the  measure  it  should  have? 

Who  stretched  the  line  across  its  face? 
194 


of  the  Poets 


Job  38-41 


Its  pillars,  on  what  were  they  set, 
Its  corner-stone,  who  laid  it  down. 
While  all  the  morning  stars  did  sing, 
And  all  the  sons  of  God  rejoiced? 

Who  shut  the  sea  with  heavy  doors. 
When  from  the  womb  it  once  broke  forth, 
When  I  made  clouds  its  baby-clothes, 
Its  swaddling-bands  folds  of  the  dark? 

When  for  it  I  the  limits  set, 
Established  for  it  bars  and  doors, 
And  cried  out:  "Thus  far  shalt  thou  go. 
But  here  thy  angry  waves  must  stop." 

Hast  thou  the  morning  ever  called, 
And  taught  the  day-spring  where  to  rise, 
That  on  the  earth's  skirt  it  might  seize, 
Change  it  as  clay  by  seal  is  changed? 

Hast  thou  the  sources  visited. 
Walked  on  the  bottom  of  the  sea? 
Hast  thou  descried  the  gates  of  death? 
Hast  thou  the  gates  of  darkness  seen? 

Hast  thou  surveyed  the  earth's  extent? 
Art  thou  acquainted  with  its  size? 
Then  thou  wert  born,  so  thou  must  know, 
For  very  many  are  thy  days. 

195 


Or  set 
bounds  to 
the  sea  ? 
(38  :  8-11) 


Or  assist  in 
making  the 
world  habit, 
able? 
(38  :  12-18) 


Job  38-41 


The  Messages 


Can  you 
point  out  the 
realms  of 
light  and 
darkness, 
the  reser- 
voirs of  hail 
and  mist,  of 
rain  and  ice  ? 
(38  :  19-30) 


Can  you  con- 
trol the  con- 
stellations 
and  their  in- 
fluence ? 
(38 :  31-33) 


What  way  leads  to  the  realm  of  light, 
And  darkness,  where  is  it  at  home? 
Canst  thou  trace  it  to  its  own  place, 
And  to  its  house  know'st  thou  the  path? 

To  the  snow's  chambers  hast  thou  been, 
Gone  to  the  treasuries  of  hail, 
Which  are  reserved  for  evil  times. 
For  days  of  struggle  and  of  strife  ? 

Where  is  the  mist  divided  up? 
Whence  o'er  the  earth  is  water  spread? 
Who  cleaves  a  channel  for  the  rain. 
And  for  the  lightning's  sheen  a  way, 

To  make  it  rain  where  no  man  lives. 
No  son  of  man  has  ever  dwelt; 
To  water  waste  and  wilderness, 
In  thirsty  land  to  make  grass  grow? 

Out  of  whose  womb  does  the  ice  come, 
And  the  hoar-frost  who  brings  it  forth, 
When  into  stone  the  water  turns, 
The  surface  of  the  deep  is  hard? 

Canst  thou  connect  the  Pleiades, 
Orion's  fetters  canst  thou  loose, 
Send  forth  Hyades  in  their  time, 
And  comfort  Ursa  for  her  sons? 
196 


of  the  Poets 


Job  38-4] 


The  laws  of  heaven  dost  thou  fix, 
Define  their  powers  on  the  earth? 
Dost  thou  Hft  to  the  cloud  thy  voice, 
And  does  the  water-stream  obey? 

Canst  thou  send  lightnings,  and  they  go? 
Do  they  to  thee  say:  "Here  we  are"? 
Who  places  wisdom  in  the  clouds, 
Gives  insight  to  the  meteors? 

Who  wisely  spreads  the  clouds  above, 
And  pours  the  jars  of  heaven  out, 
When  dust  is  molten  to  a  mass, 
And  fast  together  cleave  the  clods? 

Wilt  thou  prey  for  the  lion  hunt. 
And  still  the  hunger  of  the  whelps, 
When  they  lie  crouching  in  their  lair. 
For  ambush  in  their  thicket  lurk. 

Who  gets  his  booty  before  night. 
When  unto  God  his  young  cry  out, 
When  the  young  lions  roar  for  food. 
And  wander  hungry  here  and  there? 

Dost  thou  know  when  the  steinbock  bears, 
Direct  the  travail  of  the  hinds. 
Number  the  months  they  must  fulfill. 
And  fix  the  time  for  them  to  calve? 
197 


Can  you 
bring  rain  or 
direct  the 
lightning  ? 
(38  :  34-38) 


Can  you 
supply  the 
lion's  whelps 
with  food  ? 
(38  :  39-41) 


Or  direct  the 
travail  of  the 
hinds  of  the 
wild  goat  ? 
(39  :  1-4) 


Job  38-41 


The  Messages 


Could  you 
direct  the 
wild  ass  or 
make  the 
wild  ox 
work? 
(39  :  5-12) 


Did  you  give 
the  noble 
war-horse 
his  strength? 
(39  :  13-25) 


They  bow  themselves,  are  opened  wide, 
And  slip  their  painful  burdens  through. 
The  young  are  weaned,  grow  in  the  field, 
Go  forth  and  nevermore  return. 

Who  e'er  sent  forth  the  wild  ass  free  ? 
Who  loosed  the  bands  of  the  onager? 
His  house  I  made  the  wilderness, 
And  the  salt  wastes  his  lodging-place. 

He  laughs  at  all  the  city's  noise. 
The  driver's  clamor  he  hears  not, 
His  pasture  in  the  mountains  seeks, 
Searching  for  every  green  thing. 

Will  the  wild  ox  thy  servant  be? 
Will  at  thy  crib  he  pass  the  night? 
Wilt  thou  with  furrow-cord  bind  him, 
Or  will  he  harrow  after  thee? 

Canst  thou  trust  him,  though  he  is  strong? 
Wilt  thou  commit  to  him  thy  work? 
Canst  thou  be  sure  he  will  return 
And  gather  in  thy  threshing-floor? 

Bestow'st  thou  on  the  horse  his  strength? 
Cloth'st  thou  his  neck  with  quivering  mane? 
Dost  make  him  as  a  locust  spring. 
While  his  fine  snorting  terror  spreads? 
198 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

He  paws  rejoicing  in  the  vale, 
Goes  to  the  battle  in  full  strength; 
He  laughs  at  fear,  is  not  dismayed, 
Before  the  sword  he  turns  not  back. 

The  quiver  rattles  over  him. 
The  cutting  spear  and  javelin; 
He  licks  the  earth  in  rage  and  wrath, 
And  turns  not  either  right  or  left. 

Hears  he  a  call,  he  rushes  on. 

Is  trumpet  sounded,  he  says:  "Ah! " 

He  from  afar  the  battle  scents 

By  captains'  cries  and  shouts  of  war. 

Does  through  thy  wisdom  the  hawk  soar,  Did  you 

And  spread  his  wings  toward  the  south  ?  hz^wk  and 

Does  at  thy  word  the  eagle  mount,  their  wiys? 

And  build  himself  a  nest  on  high  ?  (39  :  26-30) 

From  thence  he  can  spy  out  his  prey. 
His  eyes  descry  it  from  afar, 
And  his  young  ones  suck  up  the  blood, 
And  where  the  slain  are,  there  is  he. 

Will  the  reprover  still  contend?  Are  you  still, 

God's  censor,  let  him  answer  now!  Sntentious 

Wilt  thou  my  righteousness  deny^  Sd? 

Declare  me  guilty  to  go  free  ?  ^4° :  1-8) 
199 


Job  38-41 


The  Messages 


Can  you  use 
God's 
weapons  to 
punish  the 
wicked  and 
hu  niliate 
the  proud  ? 
(40  :  9-12) ■ 


Then  I  will 
acknowledge 
your 
strength 
(40  :  13,  14) 


Hast  thou  an  arm  like  that  of  God, 
And  canst  thou  thunder  as  he  does? 
Adorn  thyself  with  pomp  and  state, 
Put  majesty  and  splendor  on. 

Pour  forth  the  fulness  of  thy  wrath, 
And  bring  thou  low  all  that  is  high. 
If  pride  thou  seest,  abase  it  thou. 
Tread  down  the  tyrants  where  they  stand. 

Put  them  together  in  the  dust. 
Conceal  them  in  a  hidden  place. 
And  then  will  I  confess  to  thee. 
That  thy  right  hand  delivers  thee. 


Behold 
Behemoth, 
mighty  in 
strength,  un- 
afraid, un- 
matched ! 
(40 :  15-24) 


2.  Behemoth  and  Leviathan:  An  Interpolation 

{Chap.  40:  15-41  :  34) 

Behemoth  {Chap.  40  :  15-24) 

Behold,  beside  thee  Behemoth! 
He  lives  on  grass  as  does  the  ox. 
Behold,  what  power  is  in  his  loins, 
WTiat  strength  his  belly's  muscles  have! 

His  tail  is  as  a  cedar  stiff; 
Like  ropes  the  sinews  of  his  thigh, 
Like  tubes  of  brass  are  all  his  bones, 
And  like  an  iron  bar  his  ribs. 
200 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

The  firstling  of  the  ways  of  God, 
To  rule  his  fellows  he  was  made. 
The  mountains  furnish  him  with  food, 
He  laughs  at  every  wild  beast. 

Under  the  lotus-tree  he  lies, 
In  covert  safe  of  reed  and  fen. 
A  shady  hut  the  huge  trees  make. 
The  river  willows  stand  around. 

He  flees  not,  though  Euphrates  rise. 
Though  Jordan  break  forth,  he  is  calm. 
Who,  then,  will  take  him  by  his  teeth. 
Catch  him  with  cords,  and  pierce  his  nose? 


Leviathan  {Chap.  41  :  1-34) 

Canst  thou  draw  up  Leviathan  Leviathan, 

With  hook,  or  hold  with  cord  his  tongue,  bTtamS  or 

Or  put  a  rope  into  his  nose,  74°?  1-8) 
Or  with  a  spike  bore  through  his  jaw? 

Will  he  for  mercy  plead  to  thee, 
And  speak  to  thee  with  soothing  words? 
Will  he  with  thee  a  contract  make 
To  be  thy  slave  forevermorc? 
201 


Job  38-41  The  Messages 

Canst  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird, 
Bound  as  a  dove  for  a  child's  sport? 
Will  fisher  folk  traffic  in  him, 
And  among  merchants  him  retail? 

Will  they  in  ships  transport  his  skin, 
In  fishing  vessels  bring  his  head? 
Lay  but  thy  hand  upon  him  once, 
And  of  a  battle  think  no  more. 

Behold,  thy  confidence  is  vain, 
At  sight  of  him  thou  art  cast  down. 
None  is  so  bold  as  him  to  stir. 
Before  him  who  can  hold  his  own? 

Who  can  resist  and  come  off  safe? 
Under  the  heavens  there  is  none. 
His  members  none  can  batter  down: 
Such  are  his  strength  and  glorious  build. 

His  coat  of  Who  can  his  covering  remove, 

scaksarea  ^0X0^  through  his  double  coat  of  mail? 

Ui^-^c^   )  Who  can  break  in  through  his  front  gate. 

Where  awful  teeth  are  keeping  watch? 

His  back  consists  of  rows  of  shields, 
His  breast  resembles  seals  of  stone; 
One  to  the  other  lies  so  near 
That  between  them  no  air  can  come. 
202 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

His  neesings  cause  a  light  to  shine; 
His  eyes  are  like  the  radiant  dawn; 
Within  his  mouth  bright  torches  burn, 
And  from  it  issue  sparks  of  fire. 

Out  of  his  nose  a  smoke  ascends  By  j^g  ^p. 

As  from  a  kindled  boiling  pot;  S'fi™ness 

His  breath  glows  as  a  burning  coal,  ^^  inspires 

^  every  one 

And  from  his  mouth  a  flame  comes  forth.         with  terror 

41  : 20-30) 

Might  lodges  proudly  on  his  neck, 
And  Terror  leaps  before  his  feet. 
The  flakes  of  flesh  are  firmly  joined, 
Fixed  to  him  with  a  millstone's  weight. 

When  he  arises,  gods  are  scared, 
And  heaven's  watchers  lose  their  wits. 
When  he  arises,  sword  helps  not, 
Nor  spear,  nor  dart,  nor  pointed  shaft. 

He  looks  on  iron  as  on  straw, 
And  brass  to  him  is  rotten  wood; 
The  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee, 
The  sling-stone  is  to  him  like  dust. 

The  club  he  looks  upon  as  chaff. 
And  laughs  when  spears  are  thrown  at  him. 
If  under  him  are  sharpened  shards, 
He  spreads  these  vessels  out  like  mire. 
203 


Job  38-41  The  Messages 

He"  makes  the  deep  boil  as  a  pot, 
The  ocean  as  a  caldron  seethe. 
The  river's  bottom  is  his  path, 
The  sea  he  reckons  as  his  range. 

Among  the  None  IS  his  equal  in  the  earth, 

?hfde?rhe  Made  to  be  played  with  by  the  gods; 

Ui'^si^-^!)  ^^^  ^^^^^  °"  ^^g^  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^°^» 

The  king  of  all  the  ocean  holds. 

Behemoth  is  mentioned  in  Isa.  30  :  6  and  possibly  in 
Hab.  2  :  15  and  Ps.  73  :  22.  Leviathan  is  referred  to  in 
Job  3  :,8,  Isa.  27  :  i,  Ps.  74  :  14,  and  Ps.  104  :  26.  Both 
are  described  more  fully  in  Eth.  Enoch  60  :  7-9,  Syr. 
Baruch  29  :  4  and  4  Ezra  6  :  49-52.  In  these  later  works 
Behemoth  is  a  male  monster  living  in  the  mountains  and 
the  desert,  while  Leviathan  is  a  female  monster  occupying 
the  sea.  They  are  of  enormous  size  and  power.  Eth. 
Enoch  60  :  7-9  comes  from  the  Apocalypse  of  Noah  which 
was  translated  from  the  Greek,  and  not  directly  from  the 
Aramaic,  as  the  Parables  of  Enoch.  "Dendain"  is  prob- 
ably a  corruption  of  "Naid,"  the  Greek  rendering  of  "Nod" 
in  Gen.  4  :  16.  The  Land  of  Nod  is  the  Kenite  Negeb. 
Isa.  30  :  6  shows  that  Behemoth  was  connected  with  the 
Negeb  in  an  earlier  tradition.  In  every  one  of  the  passages 
quoted  above  Leviathan  is  unmistakably  a  mythical  mon- 
ster of  the  sea. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  in  these  interpolations  we 
204 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

have  descriptions  of  actually  existing  animals.  For  Behe- 
moth the  rhinoceros  (Sa'adia),  the  elephant  (Schultens), 
and  the  hippopotamus  (Bochart)  have  been  proposed,  and 
for  Leviathan  the  crocodile.  But  it  is  quite  evident  that 
many  features  do  not  apply  to  any  of  these  animals.  The 
hippopotamus,  which  is  most  favored  by  the  interpreters, 
has  not  a  tail  stiff  as  a  cedar,  does  not  get  his  food  in  the 
mountains,  and  can  scarcely  have  been  thought  of  as  the 
first  of  God's  creations.  The  crocodile  does  not  send  forth 
from  his  mouth  a  stream  of  fire,  and  no  smoke  ascends 
from  his  nostrils.  The  great  abyss,  the  tehom,  is  not  his 
dwelling-place;  he  does  not  cause  the  ocean  to  seethe  as  a 
caldron;  and  the  denizens  of  heaven  cannot  be  imagined 
to  be  afraid  of  him.  It  does  not  seem  possible  to  explain, 
in  a  natural  way,  these  extraordinary  conceptions  as 
''idealizations." 

The  author  may,  indeed,  have  borrowed  certain  features 
for  his  sketch  from  the  great  beasts  infesting  the  valley  of 
the  Nile.  Even  a  wholly  mythical  monster  could  not  well 
be  described  without  resort  to  reality,  as  the  pictorial  repre- 
sentations of  such  beings  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  and 
Babylonians  show.  Hence  Behemoth,  the  "colossal  beast" 
of  primeval  times,  occasionally  reminds  of  a  hippopotamus, 
and  Leviathan,  the  "coiled"  serpent  of  the  abyss,  the  earth- 
encircling  ocean,  now  and  then  recalls  the  crocodile.  But 
there  are  numerous  indications  that  to  the  poet's  mind  they 
were  something  else  and  more.  He  desired  to  emphasize 
205 


Job  38-41  The  Messaged 

man's  weakness  as  compared  with  the  power  of  the  Al- 
mighty. How  utterly  beyond  man's  strength  and  skill  it 
was  to  capture,  render  harmless,  bring  into  subjection 
these  terrible  creatures!  There  were  stories  current  in 
Israel,  as  among  other  nations,  of  how  they  were  subdued 
by  the  great  god  who  created  the  world.  Phrases  used  in 
poetry  now  lost  may  have  come  back  to  the  author's 
memory.  When  the  Greek  translator  found  in  his  text 
the  term  "gods,"  he  substituted  for  it  ''angels."  It  is 
possible  to  be  essentially  a  monotheist  and  yet  believe  in 
the  existence  of  "gods  many  and  lords  many,"  and  such 
expressions  as  "gods,"  "sons  of  the  gods,"  "watchers," 
"angels,"  and  "holy  ones"  are  often  nearly  synonymous. 
A  later  time  found  even  the  "angels"  out  of  place  and  suc- 
ceeded in  making  the  text  here  and  there  wholly  unintel- 
ligible. 

The  old  mythological  figures  lived  on  and  furnished 
material  not  only  to  the  apocalyptic  writers,  but  also  to  the 
rabbis  of  a  later  period  who  speculated  on  the  use  to  which 
these  monsters  would  be  put  in  providing  food  for  the  saints 
at  the  great  Messianic  banquet. 

The  reason  why  these  interpolations  were  made  is  ob- 
vious. In  the  Speech  of  Yahwe  some  animals  had  been 
mentioned,  but  they  had  been  quite  of  the  ordinary  sort 
familiar  to  men.  These  awful  creatures,  Behemoth  and 
Leviathan,  seemed  far  more  calculated  to  impress  the 
lesson  of  God's  power  and  man's  utter  insignificance. 
206 


of  the  Poets 


Job  38-41 


(3)  Job's  Reply  {Chaps.  40  :  3,  4;  42  :  2-6) 

I  am  too  small,  what  can  I  say? 
I  lay  my  hand  upon  my  mouth. 
Once  spoke  I,  will  not  speak  again; 
Twice,  but  will  add  no  word  thereto. 

I  know  thou  canst  do  everything. 
And  nothing  is  too  hard  for  thee. 
I  taught,  but  did  not  understand, 
What  was  too  wonderful  to  know. 

What  I  had  heard  I  knew  of  thee. 
Now  I  have  seen  thee  with  my  eyes: 
Hence  I  repent  me  and  recant. 
In  dust  and  ashes  sitting  here. 


I  have  no 
answer  to 
make 
(40  :  3,  4) 


I  have  at- 
tempted the 
impossible 
(42  :  1-3) 


I  repent  of 
my  words 
(42  :  4-6) 


2.   The  Summary 

Yahwe  addresses  himself  to  Job,  charging  him  with 
darkening  the  plan  of  the  universe  by  words  that  reveal 
no  knowledge  and  challenging  him  to  answer  his  ques- 
tions. These  questions  concern  the  creation  and  economy 
of  nature.  Can  Job  tell  who  made  the  earth,  and  how  it 
was  made,  in  the  primeval  time  when  none  were  present 
but  the  stars,  these  living  beings  who  are  the  sons  of  God. 
The  conception  is  different  from  that  of  Gen.  i,  where 
the  stars  are  made  later  than  the  earth.  Was  Job  present 
at  the  famous  struggle  with  the  ocean  monsters  which 
207 


Job  38-41  The  Messages 

ended  with  the  fixing  of  the  boundaries  of  the  sea?  With 
cruel  irony  this  mortal  is  addressed  as  one  born  at  the  time 
of  the  creation  of  the  world  and  therefore  able  to  bear 
testimony  in  regard  to  it.  He  must  know  where  the  realms 
of  light  and  darkness  are,  the  reservoirs  of  hail  and  mist, 
and  rain  and  ice.  Is  he  able  to  bind  the  Pleiades  or  loose 
the  fetters  of  the  giant  Orion?  The  reference  is  to  some 
myth  according  to  which  the  Pleiades  for  a  good  reason 
were  kept  apart  and  Orion  held  in  chains.  In  the  rainy 
season  Hyades  appear,  and  the  Bear  has  lost  her  cubs  but 
been  comforted.  Did  this  comfort  come  from  Job?  The 
heavens  exercise  their  powers  over  events  on  earth.  Are 
these  powers  regulated  by  him?  Can  he  bring  rain  or 
lightning?  God  can  supply  the  lion's  whelps  with  food. 
Can  Job  do  this  ?  Does  he  direct  the  travail  of  the  hinds 
so  that  their  offspring  matures  and  is  born  in  time  ?  Has 
he  any  power  over  the  wild  ass,  and  can  he  make  the  wild 
ox  his  trusted  servant?  The  horse  is  a  splendid  animal, 
especially  when  he  goes  forth  to  battle.  Was  it  Job  who 
gave  him  his  strength  ?  The  hawk  and  the  eagle  know  how 
to  build  their  nests  and  to  spy  out  their  prey.  Did  Job 
teach  them  how  to  do  this  ?  If  Job  is  a  frail  mortal,  born 
but  yesterday,  ignorant  of  the  manner  in  which  the  world 
came  into  existence,  and  powerless  to  influence  its  course, 
why  does  he  presume  to  censure  God  who  has  created  all 
things  and  in  his  wisdom  directs  and  provides  for  his 
world?  Perhaps  Job  can  use  the  thunderbolt  to  punish 
208 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

the  wicked  and  humiliate  the  proud.  If  he  can,  then  it  is 
evident  that  he  is  able  to  deliver  himself.  Then  he  will 
be  admitted  as  victor  in  this  contest  between  him  and  his 
maker. 

The  author  of  this  Speech  of  Yahwe  could  probably  con- 
ceive of  no  other  answer  than  that  which  follows  in  40  :  3, 4; 
42  :  2-6,  whether  he  wrote  it  himself,  or  some  later  writer 
supplied  it,  as  is  perhaps  most  probable.  He  made  Job 
confess  that  the  speech  was  decisive.  It  had  convinced 
him  that  he  had  attempted  ^o  instruct,  without  understand- 
ing what  was  too  wonderful  to  know.  What  he  had 
hitherto  known  concerning  God  was  only  the  things  that 
man  had  spoken  and  his  ears  had  heard.  Now  God  him- 
self had  appeared  before  his  eyes;  and  he  repented  that  he 
had  spoken  as  he  had  concerning  him. 

3.  The  Value  of  this  Contribution  to  the  Solution 

When  the  utter  inadequacy  of  this  divine  speech  in 
meeting  the  questions,  difficulties,  and  problems  that  had 
occupied  the  mind  of  Job  in  the  dialogues  is  considered,  it 
becomes  wellnigh  inconceivable  that  this  tame  conclusion 
should  have  come  from  the  master-mind  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  these  dialogues.  And  yet  they  afford  no 
other  conclusion.  The  dialogues  leave  Job  a  victor  over 
his  friends,  but  still  troubled  by  uncertainty  regarding  his 
own  justification  and  deliverance.  He  has  asserted  his 
209 


job  38-41  The  Messages 

innocence  and  appealed  straight  to  God.  The  speech  of 
Yahwe  does  not  help  him  out;  it  merely  sets  forth  the 
power  and  resourcefulness  of  God  in  order  that  Job  may 
see  clearly  that  he  belongs  to  a  different  class  of  beings  and 
is  not  in  any  respect  on  a  plane  with  God.  The  inference 
is  that  Job  should  humble  himself,  acknowledge  his  in- 
feriority, and  take  submissively  what  God  is  pleased  to 
give  him,  whether  prosperity  and  happiness,  or  pain  and 
woe.  This,  no  doubt,  represents  the  judgment  of  the  aver- 
age Hebrew  mind  at  the  time,  but  it  is  not  a  conclusion 
appropriate  to  the  discussion  of  chapters  4-31. 


IX 

THE   SOLUTION   OF  JOB'S  PROBLEM 

Concluding  Remarks 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Book  of  Job  leads  to  no  clear- 
cut  conclusion.  It  contains  a  number  of  widely  differing 
attempts  to  find  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  human  suffer- 
ing, none  of  which  may  be  altogether  false,  yet  none  of 
which  have  the  stamp  of  finality. 

The  prose  story  frankly  suggested  that  Job's  sufferings 
were  sent  upon  him  by  Yahwe  as  a  test  of  his  righteousness. 
His  demeanor  triumphantly  proved  that  it  was  disinter- 
ested and  genuine.  The  story  also  implied  that  such 
210 


of  the  Poets  Job  38-41 

righteousness  would  surely  be  rewarded  with  abounding 
prosperity.  But  this  simple  manner  of  dealing  with  the 
problem  was  far  from  satisfying  the  poet  to  whom  we  owe 
most  of  the  book. 

In  the  dialogues,  the  friends  declare  repeatedly  that  suffer- 
ings like  those  of  Job  are  an  indication  of  sinfulness.  While 
he  refutes  this  assumption,  he  fails  to  present  any  real  ex- 
planation of  his  extraordinary  experience.  His  criticism 
is  deep  and  searching;  but  it  is  negative  and  not  con- 
structive. He  has  flashes  of  insight,  but  no  theory,  no 
great  idea  leading  to  a  clear  and  consistent  interpretation. 
But  he  illustrates  unconsciously  the  supreme  value  of  the 
character  which  issues  from  such  a  test,  refined  as  by  fire, 
strong  in  manly  independence,  scornful  of  pretence  and 
falsehood,  sincere  and  confident,  valuing  truth  and  right- 
eousness above  every  earthly  prize. 

The  speeches  of  Elihu  incidentally  suggest  that  suffering 
sometimes  gives  God  his  opportunity  to  speak  with  men 
and  guide  their  lives  aright;  but  its  educative  value  is  not 
emphasized  in  any  way,  and  it  cannot  be  said  that  he 
treats  the  subject  from  any  point  of  view  essentially  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  friends. 

The  speech  of  Yahwe  urges  that  there  can  be  no  give  and 
take,  no  common  ground  between  him  and  men.  They 
must  receive  his  providence  submissively,  and  not  assume 
to  criticise  his  doings.  To  argue  as  Job  does  is  to  ap- 
proach rebellion.  This  virtually  is  a  denial  of  all  free  in- 
211 


Job  38-41  The  Messages 

quiry  on  the  specious  ground  that,  as  man  cannot  know 
everything,  it  is  presumptuous  in  him  to  try  to  know  any- 
thing that  vitally  concerns  him. 

No  part  of  the  book  has  contributed  more  effectively  to 
the  solution  of  Job's  problem  than  the  dialogues.  For  in 
them  the  right  to  incisive  questioning,  comprehensive  re- 
search, and  unbiased  judgment,  without  which  there  can 
be  no  true  advance  in  knowledge,  is  most  strenuously 
affirmed  and  gloriously  exercised. 


212 


CANTICLES 


CANTICLES 
I 

INTRODUCTION  TO   CANTICLES 

I.  The  Title 

The  name  Canticles  is  derived  from  the  Latin  canticulaj 
plural  of  canticulum,  a  little  song.  It  is  first  mentioned  as 
a  title  in  1526.  The  anonymous  author  of  the  "Pilgrimage 
of  Perfection"  says:  "Rede  the  canticles  of  Solomon." 
This  shows  a  conception  of  the  book  as  a  collection  of 
songs.  The  Dutch  Staaten-Bibel  has  as  an  alternate  title 
Cantica.  The  Vulgate  canticum  canticorum,  like  the 
Greek  asma  asmaton,  is  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  shir 
ha-shirim.  This  title  may  mean  the  "song  of  songs"  in 
the  sense  of  "the  best  song,"  "the  most  excellent  song," 
as  "slave  of  slaves"  (Gen.  9  :  25)  means  "the  lowest  of 
slaves" ;  or  "songs  of  songs"  "the  choicest  of  songs,"  "the 
best  collection  of  songs,"  as  shir  ha-maaloth  means 
"Songs  of  the  Ascent  (to  Jerusalem)"  in  Pss.  120-132. 
The  latter  was  probably  the  original  meaning;  the  con- 
ception of  the  work  as  a  unit  naturally  led  to  taking  it  in 
the  former  sense. 

215 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

2.  Canonicity 

When  questions  first  arose  as  to  whether  this  book  was 
of  such  a  character  that  the  hands  should  be  washed  after 
contact  with  it  is  not  known.  The  idea  that  holy  books 
possessed  a  sanctity  rendering  it  improper  to  touch  pro- 
fane things  without  a  ceremonial  washing  after  they  had 
been  handled  seems  to  have  originated  with  the  Pharisees, 
and  can  scarcely  be  older  than  the  first  century  B.  C. 
But  it  was  in  the  first  and  second  centuries  of  our  era  that 
the  canon  was  reduced  to  its  present  number  of  books  by 
the  unwillingness  to  ascribe  so  high  a  degree  of  sanctity  to 
certain  works,  for  one  reason  or  another.  Not  until  the 
time  of  Rabbi  Akiba,  the  contemporary  of  Simon  bar 
Kozeba,  the  famous  Messiah  who  reigned  over  Israel 
132-135  A.  D.,  was  the  question  decided.  What  deter- 
mined the  issue  was  the  allegorical  interpretation,  though 
undoubtedly  the  ascription  of  the  book  to  Solomon,  which 
seemed  to  place  it  among  the  earlier  literary  productions 
of  the  nation,  exercised  a  certain  influence.  (Mishna, 
Jadaim,  3  :  5,  cp.  Eduyoth,  5  : 3.) 

Whenever  this  allegorical  interpretation  has  been  ques- 
tioned and  a  literal  sense  accepted,  there  has  naturally  been 
a  hesitancy  in  recognizing  the  canonicity  of  the  book.  This 
probably  was  true  of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  and  those 
who  sympathized  with  him.  Chateillon  certainly  was  led 
by  his  recognition  of  its  secular  character  to  deny  its  right 
216 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

to  a  place  in  the  canon.  Episcopius,  who  died  in  1643,  was 
doubtful,  and  Whiston,  in  1723,  rejected  its  canonicity. 
Semler,  in  1757,  could  not  regard  it  as  a  divine  book;  and 
J.  D.  Michaelis  was  led  by  some  expressions  that  seemed 
to  him  obscene  to  leave  it  out  of  his  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  (1770-1781).  In  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  many  minds  were  troubled  by  the  presence 
in  the  Bible  of  a  book  whose  secular  character  was  then 
coming  to  be  widely  recognized.  A  young  pastor  who 
voiced  his  difficulties  to  Niebuhr,  received  from  him  an 
answer  that  has  proved  satisfactory  to  a  growing  number 
of  men.  According  to  a  story  told  by  Bunsen  to  Renan 
(Cantique  des  Cantiques,  p.  147),  the  great  historian  said: 
"As  for  me,  I  should  feel  that  something  were  missing  in 
the  Bible,  if  there  were  not  in  it  some  expression  of  the 
profoundest  and  strongest  of  human  sentiments."  More 
recently,  the  question  of  canonicity  has  become  one  of 
purely  historic  interest.  Far  from  being  willing  to  lose 
anything  preserved  to  us  in  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  we  re- 
joice in  the  possession  of  every  piece  of  writing,  whatever 
its  character,  that  reveals  to  us  the  life  of  ancient  Israel. 

3.  Allegorical  Interpretation 

Neither  Philo  nor  those  writers  in  the  New  Testament 
who  used  the  allegorical  method  of  interpretation  then  in 
vogue  applied  it  to  the  elucidation  of  this  book,  if  they 
217 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

were  at  all  familiar  with  it.  The  earliest  evidence  of  such 
an  interpretation  is  suggested  by  the  passage  from  the 
Mishna  quoted  above,  in  which  Rabbi  Akiba  maintained 
that  of  all  the  books  in  the  Bible  this  was  the  most  holy, 
and  that  all  the  world  was  not  worth  the  day  when  this 
book  was  given  to  Israel.  There  is  a  tradition  recorded 
in  Tosephta  Sanhedrin  12,  and  the  Babylonian  Talmud, 
Sanhedrin  loia,  according  to  which  Rabbi  Akiba  declared: 
"Whoever  sings  from  the  Song  of  Songs  in  the  wine-hoiises 
and  makes  it  a  (profane)  song  shall  have  no  share  in  the 
world  to  come."  This  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he 
clearly  put  upon  it  another  than  the  literal  sense.  He  no 
doubt  saw  in  the  book  a  description  of  the  love  of  God 
and  Israel;  and  this  continued  to  be  the  common  inter- 
pretation in  the  synagogue,  as  Targum  and  Midrash  show. 
Origen  is  the  first  exegete  who  applies  the  method  in  detail. 
In  a  work  of  ten  books,  of  which  about  a  third  has  come 
down  to  us  in  a  Latin  translation,  he  rejects  the  literal 
sense  as  inadmissible,  in  spite  of  the  suggestion  that  the 
literary  form  is  that  of  an  epithalamion,  and  explains  that 
according  to  the  moral  or  tropological  sense  it  represents 
the  love  of  the  soul  for  the  heavenly  bridegroom,  according 
to  the  mystic  sense  the  union  of  Christ  and  the  Church. 
The  mysticism  of  the  mediaeval  church  occupied  itself 
much  with  this  book,  especially  after  it  had  discovered  in 
it  the  Virgin  Mary.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  wrote  eighty- 
six  sermons  on  it.  Perhaps  the  finest  type  of  mystical  in- 
218 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

terpretation  is  found  in  Teresa  de  Qepeda's  commentary  on 
the  first  chapter.  Even  those  of  the  reformers  who  in  general 
had  abandoned  the  allegorical  interpretation  of  Scripture 
and  were  least  touched  by  mysticism  could  not,  without 
rejecting  the  book  altogether,  break  with  tradition  on  this 
point.  This  in  part  explains  Calvin's  opposition  to  Cha- 
teillon  and  Luther's  attempt  to  find  in  it  a  political  alle- 
gory, in  which  Solomon's  reign  was  held  up  as  a  model. 
Luther  has  been  followed  in  more  recent  times  by  others, 
who  have  seen  in  it  a  presentation  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
ten  tribes  and  Hezekiah,  Samaria  and  King  Tirhaka,  or 
Zerubbabel,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah. 

Unquestionably  the  prophets  often  represented  the  re- 
lations of  Israel  and  Yahwe  under  the  figure  of  a  marriage, 
but  the  context  always  clearly  indicates  what  the  meaning 
is.  In  Canticles,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  not  the 
slightest  indication  of  any  hidden  sense,  no  reference  to 
God  or  to  things  generally  regarded  as  religious,  and  no 
hint  that  the  language,  so  inappropriate  in  itself  for  the 
expression  of  a  different  order  of  ideas,  is  to  be  understood 
figuratively. 

4.  Recognition  of  a  Literal  Sense 

The  youth  who,  in  the  second  century  A.  D.,  sang  these 

canticles  in  wine -houses,  certainly  took  the  language  in  its 

literal  sense,  and  probably  anticipated  the  most  modern 

of  critics  in  discovering  piquant  suggestions.     Incidentally, 

219 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

the  stern  rebuke  of  Akiba  makes  it  clear  that  the  Hebrew 
was  still  used  in  ordinary  life.  No  man  would  ever  have 
thought  of  singing  anything  like  our  Aramaic  Targum  in 
a  wine-shop.  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  was  condemned 
one  hundred  years  after  his  death  by  a  council  because  he 
had  explained  the  book  as  a  collection  of  love-songs;  and 
Theodoret  mentions  with  disapproval  others  who  saw  in 
Canticles  only  a  poem  relating  to  the  marriage  of  Solomon 
and  the  Egyptian  queen.  During  the  Middle  Ages,  not 
only  were  love -songs  composed  with  motives  drawn  from 
Canticles,  but  also  the  book  itself  interpreted  as  being  a 
song  of  Solomon  in  honor  of  the  Virgin,  which  he  after- 
ward dedicated  to  the  foreign  queen.  Chateillon  was  not 
the  only  one  in  the  Renaissance  period  to  recognize  the  true 
character  of  these  songs.  This  was  done  also  by  Luis 
de  Leon,  who  made  an  excellent  translation  into  Spanish, 
and  provided  it  with  notes  explaining  nothing  but  the 
literal  sense  for  a  sister  in  a  convent.  As  the  basis  of  the 
acknowledged  spiritual  meaning  many  interpreters  saw  a 
literal  sense  and  devoted  themselves  to  its  elucidation.  Some 
writers  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and  eighteenth  centu- 
ries thus  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  book  was  a  drama, 
an  epithalamion,  or  a  collection  of  eclogues  and  madri- 
gals, without  denying  a  deeper  religious  significance.  In  the 
course  of  the  last  century  the  allegorical  interpretation  has 
been  generally  abandoned  and  the  differences  between  ex- 
egetes  have  largely  confined  themselves  to  the  literary  form. 
220 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

5.  Attempts  at  Dramatic  Construction 

Caspar  Sanctius,  in  1616,  affirmed  that  Canticles  was  a 
sacred  drama,  and  Cornelius  a  Lapide,  who  died  1637, 
divided  it  into  five  acts.  But  the  first  elaborate  effort  at  pre- 
senting it  as  such  was  that  of  Laurentius  Petraeus,  a  Danish 
pastor,  who  in  1640  arranged  the  contents  of  the  work  in 
dramatic  form,  translated  it  metrically,  and  set  music  to 
it.  Huet,  in  1670,  declared  that  \t  was  a  dramatic  piece 
in  which  the  passionate  sentiments  of  husband  and  wife 
are  expressed.  Some  time  before  1706,  Hermann  von  der 
Hardt,  in  a  manuscript  in  the  Wolfenbiittel  library  men- 
tioned by  Lessing,  maintained  that  it  was  a  drama,  set  it 
forth  in  acts  and  scenes,  and  interpreted  it  as  referring  to 
the  conditions  and  hopes  of  the  kingdom  of  John  Hyrcanus. 
An  anonymous  Breslau  pastor  in  1 720  arranged  it  dramat- 
ically and  introduced,  besides  Solomon  and  Shulamith,  also 
the  queen  of  Sheba,  Nicaule  by  name;  and  two  years 
later  G.  W(achter)  likewise  presented  it  as  a  drama,  while 
Nicholas  Nonnen,  in  1725,  gave  as  his  opinion  that  it  is  not 
an  eclogue,  nor  an  oaristys,  or  fond  discourse  of  lovers, 
nor  an  epithalamion,  but  a  pure  drama.  J.  F.  Jacobi,  in 
1 771,  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  regard  Canticles  as  a 
secular  drama.  That  Solomon's  love  was  scorned  by  the 
country  maiden  who  remained  true  to  a  humbler  lover, 
was  the  thesis  of  Ammon  in  1790,  defended  also  by  Low- 
isohn  in  1816.     This  idea  had  been  anticipated  by  an 


Canticles-IntroduGtion  The  Messages 

anonymous  Jewish  writer  in  the  twelfth  century,  quoted 
by  Ginsburg,  but  the  dramatic  form  was  not  then  sug- 
gested. Through  the  powerful  influence  of  Ewald  this 
shepherd  hypothesis  became  widely  accepted  after  the  pub- 
lication of  his  first  work  on  the  subject  in  1826.  Renan, 
in  i860,  gave  to  it  his  authority.  Stickel,  in  1888,  found  it 
necessary  to  introduce  two  pairs  of  lovers;  and  Brus- 
ton,  Koenig,  Martineau,  Rothstein,  Adeney,  and,  as  late 
as  1902,  Duhm  have  worked  out  various  dramatic 
schemes. 

There  are  insuperable  diflSculties  with  this  theory  in  all 
of  its  forms.  It  seems  to  be  impossible  for  any  of  its  ad- 
herents to  agree  as  to  how  the  supposed  drama  should  be 
divided,  who  the  speakers  are,  what  the  plot  is,  where  the 
action  takes  place,  or  how  it  is  carried  out.  It  is  suffi- 
ciently hard  to  believe  that  the  lover  is  spoken  to  as  a 
present  person  when  he  is  absent,  and  that  the  Shunemite 
speaks  to  Solomon  so  as  to  encourage  his  passion  while  in 
reality  she  is  refusing  his  advances  and  only  thinks  of  her 
absent  lover.  But  entire  scenes  have  to  be  regarded  as 
dreams,  and  a  secondary  stage  has  to  be  resorted  to  as 
incidental  to  scenes  that  would  not  occupy  two  minutes. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  perceptible  difference  of  attitude 
between  Solomon  and  the  shepherd,  or  between  the  hero- 
ine's responses  to  one  and  the  other;  and  no  stage  direc- 
tions, even  as  simple  as  those  indicating  the  different 
speakers  in  the  dialogues  of  Job,  are  found.     The  scenes 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

are  too  short  to  be  acted;  and  if  written  to  be  understood 
as  a  drama,  the  work  is  without  an  analogy  in  the  literature 
of  any  people. 

6.  The  Epithalamic  Theory 

It  was  suggested  already  in  antiquity  by  Origen,  Euse- 
bius,  and  Polychronius  that  Canticles  is  an  epithalamion. 
The  idea  was  taken  up  by  Bossuet  (162  7- 1704),  who  sup- 
posed that  the  songs  were  intended  to  be  sung  on  the 
seven  days  of  the  wedding  week,  and  accepted  in  this  form 
by  Lowth  (1753)  and  others.  More  recently,  this  view 
has  been  greatly  strengthened  by  observations  of  the  cus- 
toms sporadically  found  among  various  Semitic  peoples  of 
the  present  day.  In  i860  Renan  referred  to  accounts  by 
Charles  Schefer,  who  had  often  seen  at  Damiette  and  in 
Syria  weddings  at  which  plays  were  performed.  They 
lasted  seven  days,  and  each  day  the  bride  had  a  new  dress. 
These  plays  were  given  in  the  harem;  those  invited 
formed  the  choir.  Renan  himself  suggested  that  Can- 
ticles was  a  libretto  for  a  wedding,  played  during  several 
days,  and  that  the  young  people  of  the  village  marched 
representing  the  guard  of  Solomon,  while  the  women  im- 
personated the  daughters  of  Jerusalem.  He  regarded  the 
work  as  midway  between  the  regular  drama  and  the 
eclogue  or  pastoral  dialogue.  In  1873  J.  G.  Wetzstein 
published  an  article  on  the  "Syrian  Threshing  Table,"  in 
223 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

Zeitschrifi  fur  Ethnologie,  pp.  170  ff.  At  El  Hamma, 
north  of  Damascus,  he  had  been  present  at  a  peasant 
wedding  as  guest  of  the  sheik  'Id  of  the  Soleb  tribe.  On 
the  morning  after  the  wedding  night  the  young  husband 
and  his  wife  played  king  and  queen,  and  the  leader  of  the 
young  men  vizir.  Then  the  bridal  party  brought  the 
threshing-table  from  the  barn  and  made  it  a  throne  on 
which  the  pair  were  seated.  No  crown  was  used,  but  the 
hair  fell  freely  about  the  shoulders  of  the  bride.  Then 
came  the  sword-dance  and  a  ring-dance.  In  the  sword 
dance  the  bride  held  the  sword  in  her  right,  a  handkerchief 
in  her  left  hand.  After  her  virginity  had  been  proved,  a 
great  dance  began  to  which  a  wasf  was  sung.  This  wasf 
was  a  description  of  the  beauty  and  gorgeous  apparel  of 
the  bride  and  the  groom.  Wetzstein  suggested  that  Can- 
ticles contains  some  wasjs. 

In  1882  St.  Haon,  in  Revue  de  deux  Mondes,  gave  an 
even  more  important  description  of  a  Jewish  wedding  at- 
tended by  him  in  Tunis.  There  were  dances,  bridegroom 
and  bride  sat  on  a  dais,  songs  were  sung;  but  there  was  no 
dance  by  the  bride. 

"While  the  observations  of  Schefer,  Renan,  and  St.  Haon 
apparently  made  no  impression,  the  scenes  witnessed  by 
Wetzstein  led  Budde  {The  New  World,  1894)  to  formulate 
a  theory  according  to  which  Canticles  is  a  collection  of 
songs  brought  together  by  an  old  wedding  poet  from  his 
lore.  It  describes  a  wedding  at  which  the  bridegroom  and 
224 


of  the  Poets  .  Canticles-Introduction 

bride  are  not  only  compared  with  king  and  queen,  but  with 
King  Solomon  and  the  Shunemite  Abishag  (i  Kings  i  :  3  ff.)- 
The  threshing-table  is  the  palanquin  of  Solomon,  the  shep- 
herd boys  the  life-guard  of  Solomon.  The  bridegroom  has 
a  perfect  harem,  the  bridesmaids,  also  represented  as 
daughters  of  Jerusalem.  The  sword-dance  is  found  in 
6  : 4-10,  wasjs  on  the  bride  are  seen  in  4  :  1-7;  7  :  1-8; 
and  on  the  bridegroom  in  5  :  10-16;  i  :  9-2  :  4.  All  de- 
scriptions are  taken  to  refer  to  wedded  love,  and  all  pict- 
ures of  natural  scenery  as  covered  allusions  to  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  the  sexual  instincts  in  wedlock.  The  wine 
is  sexual  intercourse,  the  grapes  are  the  breasts,  the  lilies 
the  lips,  feeding  one's  flock  among  lilies  is  kissing,  the 
picking  of  myrrh  and  balsam  is  also  osculation,  the  house 
of  wine  is  the  bridal  chamber,  also  called  the  mountain  of 
myrrh  or  the  hill  of  incense,  the  vineyard  is  the  body  of 
the  bride,  the  husband  an  apple-tree,  and  the  like.  Stade, 
Kamphausen,  and  others  have  adopted  the  theory;  Sieg- 
fried has  applied  it  in  greatest  detail. 

There  are  some  serious  objections  to  this  interpretation. 
If  the  idea  were  correct  that  these  are  the  songs  used  at  a 
wedding,  they  certainly  would  appear  in  a  different  order. 
The  supposed  wasjs  are  no  more  in  their  proper  places 
than  the  supposed  bridal  procession.  The  assumption 
that  it  is  wedded  love  which  is  described  in  Canticles  is 
wholly  gratuitous.  In  2  :  8-17  the  lover  peeps  in  through 
the  window;  in  3  :  1-5  the  heroine  runs  through  the 
225 


Canticles-Introduction  .  The  Messages 

streets  asking  for  her  lover  that  she  might  bring  him  to  her 
mother's  house;  in  5  :  2-9  she  is  alone  in  bed,  and  when  he 
knocks  at  the  door  goes  out  in  search  for  him,  and  is 
insulted  and  beaten  by  the  watchers  of  the  city.  What 
kind  of  wedded  life  is  this?  Resort  has  to  be  had  again 
to  dreams  or  stories  of  the  past  told  by  the  unblushing 
bride.  But  if  a  bride  could  tell  of  such  things  having 
occurred  in  her  past  life,  why  should  not  such  things  have 
actually  occurred?  And  if  they  really  took  place,  why 
should  not  a  poet  have  put  the  story  on  the  lips  of  an  im- 
wed  maiden?  To  seek  for  a  double  entendre  in  every 
phrase  is  wholly  unwarranted.  To  convert  every  innocent 
and  delicate  description  of  natural  scenery  into  an  allusion 
to  things  sexual  is  to  introduce  an  allegorical  method 
scarcely  to  be  preferred  to  any  of  its  predecessors,  and 
already  showing  signs  of  demanding  a  tropological  and 
analogical  sense  beside  the  hteral.  To  parade  in  vulgar 
display  the  naturalia  on  the  plea  that  naturalia  non  sunt 
turpia,  when  they  have  once  been  sanctified  by  the  Hcense 
of  church  or  society,  is  to  render  a  questionable  service  to 
morality.  By  the  attempt  to  unfold  a  latent  nuptiarum 
arcana,  the  natural  meaning  of  the  language  is  again  in 
danger  of  being  lost.  What  has  been  called  ^'die  Leidens- 
geschichte  des  Hohenliedes^'  is  not  ended  yet. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  has  been  a  tendency  to  exagger- 
ate the  regularity  of  Jewish  family  life  and  the  utterly  de- 
pendent and  subordinate  position  of  women.      When  it  is 
226 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

maintained  that  "there  is  no  individual  action  separating 
itself  from  the  forms  of  society  and  the  custom"  (Siegfried), 
it  is  forgotten  that  the  transition  from  polygamy  to  monog- 
amy as  the  normal  type  of  marriage,  characteristic  of  the 
Greek  period  to  which  these  songs  belong,  involved,  as  the 
nature  of  the  case  demands  and  the  wisdom  books  testify, 
an  increased  deviation  from  the  forms  of  society  and  the 
custom,  more  sentiment  and  mutuality  of  affection,  more 
freedom  and  more  rebellion  against  parental  authority  and 
conjugal  tyranny.  Greek  and  Aramaic  influences  affected 
the  position  of  women.  Besides,  peasant  and  shepherd 
communities  were,  no  doubt,  much  easier  in  their  social 
arrangements  than  urban  communities;  and  human  hearts 
are  very  much  the  same  in  all  ages.  The  analogies  of 
Egyptian  life  point  to  love  before  or  aside  from  marriage. 
''Sister"  is  not  necessarily  *'wife";  ''friend"  and  "be- 
loved" not  necessarily  "betrothed  wife."  The  poets  of 
the  ages  have  far  more  frequently  sung  the  love  that  comes 
regardless  of  social  customs  than  the  love  with  which  hus- 
band and  wife  are  comnianded  to  love  each  other.  It  is 
noticeable  that  in  the  modern  wedding  songs  quoted  the 
singer  is  never  the  bridegroom  or  the  bride,  but  a  third 
person,  and  the  age  of  the  customs  described  is  altogether 
unknown.  This  epithalamic  theory  cannot  be  maintained 
without  violence  to  the  language,  and  is  not  probable. 


227 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

7.  An  Anthology  of  Love  Lyrics 

Peter  Nannius,  in  1544,  suggested  that  Canticles  is  a 
collection  of  eclogues;  and  Luis  de  Leon,  in  1569,  declared: 
"todo  este  libro  es  una  Egloga  pastoril."  In  1644  Hugo 
Grotius  pointed  out  the  similarity  to  Theocritus  and  de- 
clared Canticles  to  be  written  in  the  form  of  an  oaristys, 
like  the  eighteenth  idyl  of  the  Sicilian  poet.  In  his  disser- 
tation on  eclogues,  Rene  Rapin,  in  1659,  expressed  the 
view  that  the  book  contains  a  number  of  eclogues.  Charles 
Cotin,  in  1662  and  1663,  suggested  that  in  many  places 
Canticles  was  written  in  the  manner  of  madrigals.  This 
apparently  was  also  the  opinion  of  Richard  Simon  (1678). 
Jean  le  Clerc  (1685)  regarded  the  book  as  made  up  of 
"idyls  more  dithyrambic  than  the  eclogues  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Romans."  Charles  Claude  Genest,  in  1707,  dis- 
cussing idyls  and  eclogues,  expressed  the  conviction  that 
the  author  of  the  poem  ascribed  to  Solomon  had  read 
the  Greek  author  Theocritus  and  endeavored  to  copy 
his  style.  Johann  Theophil  Lessing,  brother  of  Gottlieb 
Ephraim  Lessing,  in  1777,  pubHshed  Canticles  as  a  col- 
lection of  eclogues.  Without  defining  the  particular  type, 
Herder  regarded  the  book  as  an  anthology  of  love -songs, 
and  Goethe  at  first  accepted  this  view,  though  he  was  later 
led  to  approve  of  an  attempted  dramatic  construction. 
Among  commentators  none  has  treated  Canticles  from  this 
point  of  view  with  more  delicacy  and  insight  than  Edouard 
228 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

Reuss  (1871),  who  called  attention  to  the  poet's  peculiar 
manner  of  making  the  woman  with  whom  he  is  in  love  the 
speaker  by  preference. 

While  the  similarity  to  Theocritus  has  impressed  many 
interpreters,  the  present  writer  has  been  even  more  struck 
with  the  resemblance  to  such  poets  as  Meleager  and  Philo- 
demus  in  the  Anthologia  Palatina.  They  were  also  na- 
tives of  Palestine.  Both  of  them  were  born  at  Gadara; 
their  early  life  was  spent  in  the  East  Jordan  country.  It 
was  the  natural  scenery  of  this  region  that  developed  their 
sense  for  the  beauty  of  nature,  their  appreciation  of  the 
glories  of  a  rich  landscape,  their  fondness  for  describing 
love  as  stirred  and  affected  by  the  ebb  and  flow  of  nature's 
life.  It  was  there  they  learned  to  weave  their  garlands  of 
exquisite  lyrics,  to  bring  together  the  best  of  their  own  and 
what  they  deemed  worthy  from  other  sources  into  a  Steph- 
anos, a  florilegium,  an  anthology,  a  diwan.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  Meleager,  who  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the 
first  century  B.  C,  had  his  predecessors,  that  some  Greek 
poet  had  already  gathered  together  love -songs  in  this 
fashion  before  his  time  in  the  Decapolis.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  that  in  the  songs  of  Meleager  there  are  references 
to  a  Jew  who  was  favored  by  one  of  his  Greek-speaking 
mistresses,  Anthol.  Pal.,  V,  160,  Tauchniz  ed.  Such  an 
anthology  more  Grceco  the  author  of  Canticles  produced. 


229 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

8.  Unity  and  Integrity 

Those  critics  who  have  perceived  the  nature  of  Canticles 
as  an  anthology  of  love  lyrics,  have  frequently  regarded 
the  songs  as  coming  from  different  authors,  and  therefore 
denied  that  there  is  any  real  unity.  This  weakness  in  the 
theory  most  closely  associated  with  Herder's  name  has 
always  been  a  temptation  to  minds  impressed  with  the 
similarity  of  style,  thought,  and  situation  in  the  different 
parts  to  fall  back  again  upon  some  scheme  of  dramatic 
construction.  It  is  indeed  probable  that  some  parts  of 
Canticles  do  not  come  from  the  original  author,  are  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  of  erotic  poetry  drifting  in,  no  man 
knows  whence,  and  becoming  attached  to  the  text  in  the 
tavern  where  wine  flows  or  in  the  chamber  where  such 
scrolls  are  copied.  While  it  cannot  be  proved,  it  is  not 
impossible  that  the  author  incorporated  some  songs  sung 
as  wasjs  on  the  bride  and  the  groom  at  a  wedding. 
One  misses  the  dainty  and  delicate  touch  of  the  best  of 
the  eclogues  in  these  somewhat  redundant  descriptions. 
Where  the  same  motive  has  been  used  as  in  the  sixth 
and  the  tenth  canticle,  there  is  so  marked  a  contrast  be- 
tween the  exquisite  workmanship  of  the  former  and  the 
labored,  clumsy,  indelicate  portrayal  of  the  lover  in  the 
latter  that  it  is  natural  to  think  at  least  of  an  expansion 
from  an  inferior  source.  "The  daughters  of  Jerusalem," 
in  the  last  line,  is  a  term  that  possibly  indicates  later  origin, 
230 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

though  ''Jerusalem"  may  have  been  substituted  for  some 
other  place-name  in  the  earlier  song.  A  number  of  re- 
frains mentioning  the  women  of  Jerusalem  show  them- 
selves by  metre  and  contents  to  be  interpolations,  probably 
made  by  the  gay  youth  of  the  capital.  The  last  two  can- 
ticles likewise  reveal  by  their  metre  and  strophic  structure 
as  well  as  by  their  peculiar  sentiment  their  character  of 
late  additions  to  the  text. 

But  aside  from  these  excrescences  there  is  such  an  evi- 
dent unity  of  style  and  conception  that  the  authorship  of 
the  bulk  of  the  songs  by  the  same  poet  can  scarcely  be 
doubted.  What  is  most  conclusive  on  this  point  is  the 
author's  unique  method  of  putting  himself  in  the  position 
of  his  amorata  and  placing  on  her  own  lips  the  story  of  her 
love  for  him.  There  is  originality  as  well  as  piquancy  and 
charm  in  this. 

The  canticles  do  not  seem  to  have  suffered  much  by 
transposition  of  lines.  When  a  few  manifest  interpolations 
are  removed,  the  situations  are  rightly  understood,  and  the 
text  is  restored  as  it  can  be  with  the  aid  of  the  versions 
and  an  occasional  conjectural  emendation,  the  present 
order  of  the  canticles  and  the  strophes  and  lines  within 
each  canticle  is  far  preferable  to  any  rearrangement. 
Professor  Paul  Haupt  has  often,  with  his  learning  and 
insight,  thrown  light  on  the  meaning  of  obscure  phrases 
in  Canticles;  but  he  has  deemed  it  necessary  to  assume 
transpositions  on  so  large  a  scale  that  the  result  is  an 

231 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

entirely  new  series  of  canticles.  Except  in  very  rare 
instances,  the  new  songs  seem  to  be  no  improvement  on 
the  old.  There  is  no  evidence  to  support  these  changes, 
and  no  analogy  by  which  such  a  drastic  and  arbitrary  treat- 
ment could  be  justified. 

9.  The  Authorship 

The  superscription  ascribes  the  book  to  Solomon.  How 
old  the  addition  of  his  name  to  the  title  is  cannot  be  abso- 
lutely determined.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  it  was 
either  the  conception  of  Canticles  as  a  wisdom-book  (the 
Syriac  version  calls  it  **  Wisdom  of  Wisdoms")  or  the  men- 
tion of  Solomon's  name  in  a  few  places  that  caused  him  to 
be  regarded  as  the  author.  The  manner  in  which  he  is 
referred  to  should  have  precluded  the  idea;  but  the  editors 
of  the  Psalms  were  often  more  easily  satisfied  that  they  had 
found  a  hint  of  authorship  and  occasion  in  the  author's 
life.  The  language  is  sufficient  to  show  that  Solomon 
could  not  have  written  this  work.  He  could  as  little  have 
used  the  late  forms  of  Hebrew  speech,  characteristic  of  the 
Mishnaic  period  or  the  Aramaisms,  as  he  could  have  in- 
dulged in  Persian  words,  like  paries,  or  Greek  words,  like 
phoreion\  and  the  sentiment  is  equally  far  removed  from 
his  age  or  his  court.  WTiat  his  one  thousand  and  five  songs 
(i  Bangs  5  :  12)  were  like  we  cannot  say.  But  the  one 
hundred  and  sixteen  verses  of  Canticles  certainly  formed 
232 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

no  part  of  his  diwan.  Concerning  the  real  author  we 
know  neither  his  name  nor  the  circumstances  of  his  life, 
but  only  what  his  poems  tell  us  of  his  thoughts  and  senti- 
ments, his  gifts  of  observation  and  his  art. 

lo.  The  Date 

Those  who  regarded  Solomon  as  the  author  looked  upon 
Canticles  as  a  work  written  in  the  beginning  of  the  tenth 
century  B.  C.  When  the  tradition  preserved  in  Baba 
bathra  13b,  14a,  ascribes  the  poems  to  Hezekiah  and 
his  companions,  it  probably  is  to  be  understood  as  affirm- 
ing that  Canticles  had  come  down  by  oral  transmission 
from  Solomon  and  been  committed  to  writing  by  Hezekiah 
and  his  men.  The  statement  of  Dom  Calmet  that  some 
rabbis  considered  Isaiah  as  the  author  is  probably  due  to 
a  misunderstanding  of  the  Talmudic  passage.  A  mistaken 
idea  of  the  period  of  David  and  Solomon  as  the  golden  age 
of  Hebrew  literature  led  many  scholars  who  rejected  the 
Solomonic  authorship  to  assign  a  very  high  age  to  Canticles. 
Even  those  who  perceived  the  close  relationship  to  The- 
ocritus supposed,  as  did  Samuel  Wesley  (1736)  and  J.  T. 
Lessing  (1777),  that  the  Sicilian  poet  read  in  Egypt  the 
Greek  version  of  Solomon's  work.  In  modern  times 
Hermann  von  der  Hardt  (before  1706)  maintained  that 
Canticles  was  written  in  the  reign  of  John  Hyrcanus  (134- 
104  B.  C).     Charles  Claude  Genest  (1707)  expressed  the 

233 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

conviction  that  the  author  of  the  poem  ascribed  to  Solomon 
had  read  the  Greek  author  Theocritus  and  consequently 
wrote  after  the  time  of  Ptolemy  III  (247-221  B.  C.)-  Benja- 
min Kennicott  seems  to  have  been  the  first  scholar  to  base 
his  judgment  as  to  the  late  origin  of  Canticles  on  linguistic 
considerations.  In  1753  he  declared  that  Canticles  was 
post-exilic,  pointing  especially  to  the  spelling  of  David's 
name.  A.  T.  Hartmann,  in  1829,  concluded  on  similar 
grounds  that  it  was  written  in  the  Macedonian  period. 
The  dependence  upon  Theocritus  has  been  brought  out 
especially  by  Gratz  (1871)  and  Martineau  (1892);  and 
even  students  who  regard  the  numerous  and  close  similar- 
ities as  accidental  are  at  the  present  time  inclined  to  assign 
the  work  to  the  third  or  the  second  century.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  language  forbidding  the  assumption  that  it 
was  written  as  late  as  in  the  beginning  of  the  first  century 
B.  C.  If  the  idea  of  an  anthology  was  suggested  by 
Meleager's,  or  the  author  was  otherwise  influenced  by  the 
Gadarene  poet,  as  he  certainly  was  by  Theocritus,  this 
would  be  a  probable  date.  But  there  may  have  been  such 
anthologies  before  Meleager.  It  is  probable  that  Canticles 
in  its  original  form  was  somewhat  older  than  the  Psalter 
of  Solomon.  The  later  additions  were  no  doubt  made  in 
Jerusalem  before  the  question  of  canonicity  was  seriously 
agitated. 


^ZA 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

II.  The  Place  of  Composition 

It  is  not  possible  to  determine  with  certainty  where 
Canticles  was  written  from  the  names  of  localities  occur- 
ring in  the  poems.  The  references  to  Kedar's  and  Sal- 
ama's  tents,  to  Engedi's  henna  clusters,  and  to  the  lilies 
of  Sharon  no  more  show  that  the  songs  originated  in  the 
south  than  those  to  Hermon  and  Lebanon  that  they  came 
from  the  north,  or  "the  daughters  of  Jerusalem"  that  they 
were  written  in  the  capital.  So  far  as  the  allusions  to  the 
women  of  Jerusalem  are  concerned,  they  probably  are  all 
due  to  the  hands  that  added  the  final  touches,  the  refrains 
to  some  of  the  songs.  The  author  was  no  doubt  familiar 
with  various  parts  of  the  country.  But  the  distinct  refer- 
ences to  objects  seen  in  Heshbon,  Rabbath  Ammon(?), 
and  Damascus  render  it  probable  that  the  territory  of  the 
Greek  Decapolis  was  the  poet's  home,  and  the  unmistak- 
able similarity  between  him  and  the  Greek  poets  who  in 
this  lovely  region  learned  to  describe  with  such  delight  the 
beauties  of  nature  points  in  the  same  direction.  It  may 
be  supposed  that  the  author  wrote  in  the  Decapolis,  south  of 
Damascus,  and  that  his  anthology  found  its  way  to  Jeru- 
salem where  it  assumed  its  present  form. 

12.  The  Moral  and  Religious  Message 

When  the  mystical  sense  could  no  longer  be  maintained, 
and  yet  the  feeling  remained  that  Providence  would  not 
235 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

have  permitted  the  book  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  canon  of 
Holy  Scripture,  unless  it  was  calculated  to  serve  a  high 
and  noble  purpose,  recourse  was  often  had  to  the  assump- 
tion that  Canticles  was  divinely  intended  to  teach  the  desir- 
ability and  blessedness  of  lawful  wedlock  by  celebrating 
the  pleasures  that  may  be  enjoyed  by  men  and  women  liv- 
ing in  the  state  of  matrimony.  In  order  to  bring  out  this 
lesson,  almost  as  much  violence  has  been  done  to  Canticles 
in  the  last  decades  as  was  done  in  past  centuries  by  the 
allegorical  method  or  the  ill-starred  attempts  at  dramatic 
construction.  These  songs  were  not  written  to  teach  the 
value  of  any  institution,  be  it  ever  so  good  and  desirable. 
Not  wedded  love,  nor  betrothed  love,  but  love,  the  love  of 
man  and  woman,  is  the  subject,  and  to  sing  it  well,  to  give 
it  the  most  beautiful  expression,  was  the  author's  only  pur- 
pose. Canticles  is  das  Hohelied  der  Liebe.  To  make  it 
anything  else  is  to  make  it  something  less.  It  is  a  paean 
setting  forth  the  glory  of  love's  eternal  yearning,  joy,  and 
strength.  It  sings  the  praise  of  the  greatest  force  in  the 
world,  that  which  builds  the  universe,  from  atom  to  man, 
draws  individuals  together  in  fruitful  union,  forms  the 
foundation  on  which  alone  their  mutual  relations  can 
profitably  rest,  rears  families,  organizes  society,  interprets 
nature,  lifts  aloft  shining  ideals,  and  gives  the  touch  divine 
to  all  existence.  Granted  that  the  love  described  in  the 
poems  has  not  yet  risen  to  be  the  glorious  reality  it  is  to 
modern  man,  that  it  is  simple,  sensuous,  and  unreflecting. 
236 


of  the  Poets  Canticles-Introduction 

It  needs  no  apology.  The  nature  is  in  it.  It  is  big  with 
the  potentialities  of  the  future.  "Love,"  says  Renan,  " has 
above  it  only  virtue  and  genius."  But  the  virtue  that  is 
devoid  of  love  is  a  sounding  brass,  and  the  genius  that 
places  itself  above  love  is  a  clanging  cymbal.  The  vital 
message  of  Canticles  does  not  depend  upon  the  construc- 
tion of  the  text  that  reads  into  it,  in  a  wholly  unwarranted 
manner,  a  conflict  between  a  voluptuous  Oriental  despot 
and  a  chaster  shepherd  for  the  heart  of  a  maiden,  remain- 
ing true  to  her  former  lover  in  the  midst  of  the  seductions 
of  a  royal  harem.  Such  an  inner  struggle  and  trial  of 
love's  strength  would  indeed  add  to  its  ethical  value  in  our 
eyes.  But  these  things  are  the  dreams  of  exegetes;  and 
their  absence  in  the  poems  only  shows  that  time  had  not 
yet  come,  social  institutions  had  not  yet  developed  suf- 
ficiently, this  artist's  brain  had  not  yet  felt  the  necessary 
impulse,  for  a  portrayal  of  the  more  advanced  conception 
of  love  this  would  imply. 

As  long  as  religion  was  associated  with  a  certain  set  of 
functions,  was  consigned  to  a  special  department  of  the 
soul's  life,  as  long  as  the  most  intimate  and  sacred  rela- 
tions of  man  and  woman  were  looked  upon  shamefacedly 
as  concessions  to  a  lustful  nature,  as  carnal  love  unworthy 
of  consideration  by  the  side  of  the  higher  forms  of  spiritual 
affection,  as  long, as  love  itself  was  in  its  chrysalis  state, 
having  not  yet  revealed  its  true  nature  as  a  spiritual  fellow- 
ship based  on  the  diversities  implied  in  sex,  the  mystics 

237 


Canticles-Introduction  The  Messages 

were  right  in  seeking  for  a  hidden  meaning.  It  was  the 
voice  of  the  human  heart  crying  out  its  defiant  affirmation 
of  the  divinity  of  love.  Regardless  of  time  and  space,  in 
the  midst  of  the  changing  fortunes  of  life,  in  the  face  of 
death  and  hell,  it  must  needs  sing,  in  jubilant  strains,  its 
joy  of  devotion  and  possession.  Whether  the  object  of 
worshipful  meditation  was  Israel's  God,  the  Christ,  or  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  mystic  sought  for  something  that  could 
purge  and  lift,  inspire  and  satisfy  as  only  true  love  can. 
He  prepared  the  way. 

Until  religion  is  understood  as  a  devotion  to  the  highest, 
permeating  every  part  of  man's  life,  until  the  love  that  binds 
a  man  and  a  woman  in  perfect  harmony  and  utter  devotion 
is  recognized  as  of  itself  so  sacred  that  no  human  institution 
can  add  aught  to  it  or  detract  from  it,  until  this  love  itself 
learns  how  to  bring  with  it  something  of  the  rich  heritage 
of  the  life  of  the  senses  into  the  higher  latitudes  of  the  life 
of  the  spirit,  there  is  the  real  danger  of  a  secularizing 
process  that  sacrifices  these  tender  creations  to  the  con- 
taminating breath  of  frivolity  and  lawlessness,  and  a  cer- 
tain historic  justification  may  be  accorded  to  the  epi tha- 
lamic theory.  When  these  things  shall  have  come,  there 
will  no  longer  be  any  question  as  to  the  religious  significance 
of  these  beautiful  love  lyrics. 


238 


of  the  Poets  i  Canticle  i  :  i-6 


II 

THE   FIRST   CANTICLE 

{Chap.  I  :  1-6) 

I.  The  Translation 

O  kiss  me  with  one  of  thy  kisses,  A  young 

For  better  than  wine  is  thy  love,  ^°aTto  a  ^^ 

Thy  fragrance  than  oil  that  is  poured  out,  Ever'^"^ 
And  therefore  the  maidens  love  thee. 


"Draw  me!  we  will  run  in  thy  footsteps. 
Take  me  to  thy  chamber,  O  king! 
With  thee  we  will  dance  and  have  pleasure. 
Will  drink  of  thy  love  more  than  wine." 

Though  swarthy  I  am,  I  am  comely, 
Like  Kedar's  and  Salama's  tents, 
Look  not  at  my  dusky  complexion, 
The  sun  scanned  too  closely  my  face. 

The  sons  of  my  mother  in  anger 
Sent  me  as  a  keeper  of  vines; 
While  I  cared  for  many  a  vineyard, 
I  could  not  my  own  vineyard  keep. 

239 


I  Canticle  i  :  i-6  The  Messages 

2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  song  a  beautiful  young  woman  sings  her  love  for 
the  one  whom  her  heart  has  chosen.  She  longs  for  his 
caresses  and  freely  avows  it.  He  is  worthy  of  love,  and 
his  attractiveness  is  felt  by  many.  It  is  with  pride  she 
points  to  the  fact  that  the  maidens  are  fond  of  him.  They 
show  their  preference  for  him.  When  he  leads  the  rustic 
dance,  each  wants  to  take  hold  of  his  hand  and  be  carried 
on  in  the  wild  whirl  of  pleasure.  As  the  excitement  grows, 
they  express  in  the  plainest  terms  what  they  wish.  The 
restraints  are  loosened,  and  each  cries  for  the  bliss  only  he 
can  bestow:  "Take  me  to  thy  chamber,  O  king!"  What 
they  all  desire  is  to  dance  and  enjoy  themselves  with  him, 
to  drink  of  the  cup  of  love  that  intoxicates  more  than  wine. 
She  herself  feels  the  same  mad  impulse,  and  her  frankness 
is  only  a  shade  less  pronounced  than  theirs.  Will  she  be 
overlooked  ?  Will  he  notice  how  dark  she  is  and  compare 
her  sunburnt  complexion  with  their  white  skin?  But 
though  she  may  be  as  black  as  the  tents  the  Kedarenes  and 
Salamaeans  pitch  in  the  desert,  she  knows  that  she  is  beau- 
tiful. He  will  surely  understand  that  it  is  only  the  sun  that 
has  taken  too  much  pleasure  in  looking  at  her  features, 
and  she  could  not  help  it.  For  her  brothers  had  been 
angry  with  her  and  sent  her  out  as  a  vineyard  keeper. 
And  the  cause  he  knows:  she  too  is  desirable  and  full  of 
tender  promptings. 

240 


of  the  Poets 


2  Canticle  i  :  7-8 


The  dance  thought  of  may  have  been  that  of  the  Xylo- 
phoria.  At  this  festival  of  Wood-Bringing,  Taanith  31a 
tells  us:  "  the  virgins  went  out  in  the  vineyards  and  danced; 
it  is  taught:  he  who  had  no  wife  went  there."  The  festival 
held  on  the  15th  of  Ab  is  mentioned  by  Josephus,  Bell. 
Jud.,  II,  425,  and  frequently  in  the  Talmud,  as  well  as  in 
Neh.  10  :  34;  13  :  30,  and  probably  also  in  Judges  21  : 
21-23.  It  is  evident  that  on  such  an  occasion,  when  the 
young  women  danced  with  a  view  to  being  captured,  there 
must  have  been  a  good  deal  of  abandon  and  freedom  of 
speech.  The  poet  who  has  a  special  penchant  for  placing 
on  the  lips  of  woman  a  naive  and  outspoken  confession  of 
her  love  is  likely  to  have  found  in  this  situation  material 
that  struck  his  fancy,  and  has  certainly  succeeded  in  repro- 
ducing the  rural  atmosphere,  while  presenting  his  favorite 
theme. 


Ill 


THE   SECOND   CANTICLE 

{Chap.  I  :  7-8) 

I.  The  Translation 


O  thou  whom  I  dearly  love,  tell  me 
Where  thou  thy  rest  takest  at  noon. 
Why  must  like  a  stranger  I  wander 
Where  comrades  of  thine  tend  their  flocks? 
241 


A  beautiful 
shepherdess 
seeks  her 
lover  among 
the  flocks 


3  Canticle  1:9-^:5  The  Messages 

O  thou  among  women  the  fairest! 
Wouldst  know,  only  follow  the  flock, 
And  lead  out  thy  kids  in  the  pastures 
Where  their  tents  the  shepherds  have  pitched. 

2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  eclogue  shepherdesses  are  speaking.  One  desires 
to  know  where  her  best  beloved  rests  at  noon  that  she 
might  see  him.  She  finds  it  hard  to  go  from  flock  to  flock, 
as  though  she  were  offering  herself  to  the  shepherds,  while 
in  reality  she  is  looking  for  him  only  whom  her  soul  loves. 
The  other  shepherdesses  praise  her  beauty  and  assure  her 
that  she  will  find  him.  He  will  be  in  some  place  where 
shepherds  have  pitched  their  tents. 


IV 

THE  THIRD   CANTICLE 
{Chaps.  I  :  9-2  : 5) 

I.  The  Translation 

Afonddis-  He:    To  steed  before  Pharaoh's  chariots 

\oylS  °^  I  liken  thee,  O  my  dear  friend. 

Thy  cheeks  are  adorned  with  spangles, 
With  beautiful  jewels  thy  neck. 
242 


of  the  Poets  3  Canticle  i  :  9-2  : 5 

She:    A  bundle  of  myrrh  is  my  lover 

That  nightly  rests  between  my  breasts, 
A  cluster  of  henna  my  darling, 
From  Engedi's  gardens  it  comes. 

He:     Behold  thou  art  fair,  my  beloved, 
As  lovely  as  doves  are  thine  eyes. 

She:    Behold,  thou  art  handsome,  my  lover. 
Right  pleasant  thou  art  and  most  fair. 

Both:  Our  bed  let  us  spread  in  the  forest, 

And  green  is  the  couch  we  shall  choose, 
Our  house  shall  have  cedars  for  rafters, 
Cypresses  we  have  for  its  walls. 

She:    A  rose  only  am  I  in  Sharon, 

A  lily  am  I  of  the  plains. 
He:    As  lily  is,  placed  among  thistles. 

My  love  among  women  appears. 

She:    As  apple-tree  is  in  the  forest. 
My  lover  appears  among  men. 
I  rest  in  its  shadow  so  gladly. 
And  sweet  to  my  taste  is  its  fruit. 

Take  me  to  the  tavern  where  wine  flows. 
The  house  that  has  love  for  its  sign. 
Refresh  me  with  cates  of  sweet  raisins. 
My  strength  there  with  apples  revive. 

243 


3  Canticle  1:9-2:5  The  Messages 

2.  The  Notes 

Verses  6  and  7  seem  to  be  later  additions,  as  both  metre 
and  contents  indicate.  It  is  natural  that  when  this  can- 
ticle was  sung  in  the  wine-shops  of  Jerusalem  the  heated 
imagination  of  the  revellers  should  have  been  unwilling  to 
stop  where  the  poet  did.  A  distich  describing  the  embrace, 
and  an  irregular  tetrastich  adjuring  the  women  of  Jerusalem 
not  to  interfere  with  passion  until  it  has  found  its  complete 
satisfaction  were  introduced.  To  swear  by  the  gazelles 
and  hinds  of  the  field  is  to  swear  by  those  graceful  creatures 
the  women  resemble,  and  should  be  like  in  the  respect 
desired. 

Verses  11  and  12  are  also  later  interpolations.  "We 
will  make  for  thee  plaits  of  gold  with  studs  of  silver"  is  a 
statement  introducing,  in  a  manner  not  warranted  by  the 
context,  new  speakers  and,  in  a  manner  not  to  be  credited 
to  our  poet,  a  very  clumsy  idea.  Equally  incongruous  in 
this  connection  is  the  sentence:  "When  the  king  is  in  his 
bed,  my  spikenard  gives  forth  its  fragrance."  It  was 
probably  suggested  by  verse  13  and  brought  in  as  a  gloss 
from  the  same  source  as  2  :  6,  7. 

3.  The  Exposition 

This  canticle  is  an  oaristys,  or  fond  discourse  of  lovers, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  eighteenth  of  the  idyls  of  Theocritus. 
From  the  pronouns  it  is  clear  that  the  speakers  are  a  man 
244 


of  the  Poets  3  Canticle  i  :  9-2  :  5 

and  a  woman,  and  what  is  said  by  each.  The  comparison 
with  a  noble  steed,  a  fine  mare,  is  found  also  in  Theocritus 
(18  :  30  f.).  The  choicest  of  horses  were  selected  for  the 
chariots  of  the  Egyptian  kings.  The  title  Pharaoh  was 
still  given  to  the  Ptolemies,  and  would  have  been  used  in 
Syria  from  old  habit  even  if  it  had  not  continued  to  be 
employed  officially  in  Egypt.  Among  some  of  the  Oriental 
nations  the  sense  of  smell  seems  to  be  more  closely  con- 
nected with  the  emotional  life  than  it  is  with  us;  the  pas- 
sions are  excited  by  odors,  and  perfumes  of  one  kind  or 
another  are  used  by  men  as  well  as  by  women.  The  lovers 
lie  down  on  the  green  leaves  wherever  night  overtakes 
them,  and  they  need  no  other  rafters  and  walls  than  the 
cedars  and  cypresses  of  the  forest.  This  free  and  glorious 
life  out-of-doors  has  to  them  a  peculiar  charm.  Whatever 
is  most  beautiful  reminds  of  the  beloved,  the  graceful 
anemone  on  the  plain  of  Sharon,  the  fruitful  apple-tree  in 
the  wood.  Like  thistles  and  common  trees  are  all  the  rest. 
As  sweet  as  the  shade  of  the  apple-tree  and  the  fruit  it 
gives  is  to  her  the  enjoyment  of  her  lover's  caresses.  They 
refresh  and  revive  her  as  wine,  sweet  raisins,  and  apples. 


245 


4  Canticle  2  :  8-13  The  Messages 


THE   FOURTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  2  : 8-13) 

I.  The  Translation 


The  young  My  lover's  voice!    Lo,  he  comes! 

woman  an-  _^  ,  .        , 

ticipatesher  He  ovcr  the  mountains  leaps, 

ealiy  greet- '^  He  skips  along  on  the  hills, 

^«  The  hillocks  by  Bethel's  town. 


My  lover  is  hke  a  gazelle. 
Or  a  young  fawn  of  the  hinds. 
He  stands  there  behind  our  wall, 
He  peeps  through  the  window  in. 

In  this  way  my  lover  speaks: 
"Arise,  my  beauty,  my  friend! 
For,  lo!  the  winter  is  past. 
The  rain  is  parted  and  gone; 

"The  flowers  are  seen  in  the  land, 
The  time  of  pruning  is  near. 
The  turtle-dove's  voice  is  heard. 
The  vine  puts  its  foliage  forth. 
246 


of  the  Poets  4  Canticle  2  : 8-13 

"The  fig-trees  are  now  in  bloom, 
They  send  forth  a  fragrance  sweet. 
Arise,  get  thee  up,  my  dear, 
My  fair  one,  my  friend,  come  out!" 

2.  The  Notes 

The  fourth  line  of  the  first  tetrastich  has  been  somehow 
transferred  to  verse  17,  where  it  is  clearly  redundant.  It 
has  apparently  been  attached  to  the  second  line  of  the  next 
stanza  in  the  Greek,  where  it  reads:  "upon  the  mountains 
of  Baithel."  There  was  a  Bethuel,  or  Bethel,  in  the 
Negeb,  probably  at  Halasa;  there  was  another  north  of 
Jerusalem.  There  may  have  been  some  Bethel  in  the 
region  of  the  Decapolis.  Baitylia  were  found  in  many 
places  in  earlier  days;  and  the  Baitylion  of  Judith  is 
scarcely  identical  with  any  of  the  other  Bethels  known. 

3.  The  Exposition 

This  canticle  is  a  monologue  in  which  the  love-lorn 
maiden  is  represented  as  figuring  to  herself  the  approach 
of  her  lover  and  his  greeting.  It  is  an  early  morning  in  the 
spring.  She  has  not  risen  yet  from  her  bed.  But  she 
hears  his  voice  as  he  comes  near  to  her  cottage.  She  can 
follow  his  graceful  movements  as  he  skips  over  the  hills, 
all  eagerness  to  enjoy  her  company.  Now  he  is  there, 
247 


5  Canticle  2  :  14-17  The  Messages 

peeping  in  through  the  window,  as  rustic  lovers  in  all  lands 
have  occasionally  done.  But  never  did  an  unbred  coimtry 
lad  outside  his  lassie's  window  in  the  early  morning  hours 
extend  to  her  an  invitation  so  delicate  in  sentiment,  so  rich 
in  imagination,  so  dignified  in  its  simplicity,  so  chaste  and 
exquisite  in  its  reserve,  so  instinct  with  the  sense  of  nature's 
beauty,  so  absolutely  free  from  the  slightest  taint  of  vulgar 
sensuality,  so  pure,  so  graceful,  so  ethereal.  There  is  the 
warmth  of  amorous  feeling,  but  not  the  hot  blast  of  consum- 
ing passion.  The  atmosphere  is  clear  and  sweet  and  fresh 
as  is  the  summer  morn  under  the  Syrian  sky.  No  matter 
how  refined  the  age,  such  words  would  grace  the  lips  of 
any  maiden.  There  is  something  of  the  light  and  airy 
touch  of  Kalidasa  in  these  lines. 


VI 

THE   FIFTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  2  :  14-17) 

I.  The  Translation 
The  He:  My  dove  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks, 

maiden's  •'  •      ,     i         • 

answer  to  In  caves  of  the  mountams  slope! 

jover  O  let  me  thy  figure  behold! 


Thy  voice  let  me  hear  once  morel 
248 


of  the  Poets  5  Canticle  2  :  14-17 

She:  Come,  let  us  these  foxes  chase, 
These  sly  little  foxes  catch! 
So  many  a  garden  they  spoil, 
Our  gardens  are  blooming,  now. 

Till  the  day  begins  to  grow  cool,  " 
And  shadows  begin  to  fall, 
Run  thou  like  a  roe,  my  love. 
Like  a  young  fawn  of  the  hinds! 

2.  The  Notes 

"For  thy  voice  is  sweet  and  thy  form  is  pleasant"  is  a 
gloss,  and  so  is  ''my  lover  is  mine  and  I  am  his  who  leads 
his  flock  among  lilies,"  and  also  "on  the  mountains  of 
Bether"  (or  Bethel)  which  is  redundant  in  verse  17  and 
belongs  to  the  first  stanza  of  the  preceding  canticle. 

3,  The  Exposition 

In  this  pastoral  dialogue  the  lover  bids  his  shepherdess 
to  come  out  of  her  hiding-place  in  some  cleft  or  cave 
whither  the  heat  of  the  day  has  sent  her  for  shelter  that  he 
might  see  her  beloved  form  and  hear  her  voice.  She  first 
turns  to  her  companions,  the  other  shepherdesses,  sum- 
moning them  to  chase  these  sly  little  foxes  away,  the  young 
men  who  craftily  seek  to  lure  them  astray.  They  are  such 
robbers,  never  satisfied  till  they  have  spoiled  .the  gardens; 
249 


6  Canticle  3  :  1-4 


The  Messages 


and  they  know  full  well,  she  cunningly  hints,  where  the 
finest  gardens  are.  Having  disarmed  the  suspicions  of  her 
companions  by  this  flattery,  she  ostentatiously  sends  her 
shepherd  away,  bids  him  run  like  a  roe  or  a  young  fawn 
all  through  the  day.  But  he  understands  the  implied  sug- 
gestion. The  day  will  grow  cool  at  length  and  the  shadows 
begin  to  fall.     Then  there  is  hope. 


VII 


The  young 
woman's 
search  for 
her  beloved 


THE   SIXTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  3  :  1-4) 

I.  The  Translation 

At  night,  while  resting  on  my  bed, 
I  longed  for  him  whom  I  desire. 
"I  will  arise  and  go  through  town, 
Through  all  its  streets  and  public  squares; 

"I  will  seek  him  whom  my  soul  loves." 
I  sought  him  and  I  found  him  not. 
Some  wanderers  met  me  in  the  town. 
"Have  ye  seen  him  whom  I  adore?" 

Scarce  had  I  passed  these  wanderers  by, 
When  him  I  found  whom  my  soul  loves. 
I  held  him,  would  not  let  him  leave, 
I  brought  him  to  my  mother's  house, 
250 


of  the  Poets  6  Canticle  3  :  1-4 

2.  The  Notes 

"I  found  him  not"  in  verse  i  is  redundant  and  has 
crept  in  from  the  end  of  verse  2  where  it  is  in  its  right  place. 
''The  keepers"  are  also  a  reminiscence  from  another  can- 
ticle. Those  that  walk  about  in  the  city  are  not  policemen 
in  this  song.  "To  the  chamber  of  her  who  conceived  me" 
is  also  an  addition  taken  from  another  song.  And  all 
of  verse  5  is  a  refrain  probably  due  to  the  young  men  who, 
incited  by  the  last  gloss,  added  in  Jerusalem  a  remark  that 
was  to  their  taste.    The  metre  is  different. 

3.  The  Exposition 

In  this  monologue  it  is  again,  as  in  the  fourth  canticle, 
a  loving  woman  who  tells  the  story  of  her  amorous  desire. 
But  there  is  more  passion  in  her  longing  and  an  unbearable 
sense  of  loneliness.  Her  couch  gives  her  no  rest,  her 
heart  is  full,  she  can  endure  no  longer.  She  must  go  out 
in  search  for  him.  She  asks  some  men  who  wander  about 
in  the  streets  if  they  have  seen  him.  The  answer  is  not 
given,  but  must  have  been  in  the  negative.  Soon,  however, 
she  finds  him,  and  will  not  let  him  leave,  but  brings  him  to 
her  mother's  house. 

Compared  with  the  tenth  canticle,  there  is  in  this  song 
a  certain  admirable  restraint.  There  is  a  brevity,  a  reserve, 
a  suppression  in  speech  by  which  the  depth  of  emotion  is 
251 


7  Canticle  3  :  6-11 


The  Messages 


only  the  more  accentuated.  The  situation  reflects  life  in  an 
urban  community  where  a  young  woman  living  with  her 
mother  enjoys  a  degree  of  freedom  not  to  be  looked  for  in 
Muslim  harems  but  in  all  probability  not  unusual  in  the 
period  when  this  poet  lived.  The  heroine  is  in  dead 
earnest;  she  looks  for  her  lover  and  him  alone;  she  wants 
nothing  of  the  wanderers  save  information  concerning  his 
whereabouts. 

VIII 


The  sumptu- 
ous palan- 
quin of  King 
Solomon 


THE   SEVENTH  CANTICLE 

{Chap.  3:6-11) 

I.  The  Translation 

What  is  this  coming  up  from  the  desert, 
Like  a  rising  pillar  of  smoke, 
Like  an  offering  of  myrrh  and  incense, 
Of  all  spices  the  merchant  sells? 

Behold,  it  is  Solomon's  carriage, 
Sixty  heroes  stand  round  about. 
With  swords  they  are  all  of  them  girded, 
They  have  all  learned  the  art  of  war. 

The  king  a  palanquin  constructed. 
From  Lebanon's  heights  came  the  wood, 
Its  pillars  of  silver  were  fashioned, 
Its  covering  was  of  pure  gold. 

252 


of  the  Poets  7  Canticle  3:6-11 

Of  ebony  fine  was  its  seat  made, 
The  ceiling  was  inlaid  with  gems. 
Come  out,  O  Jerusalem's  women! 
Ye  daughters  of  Zion,  take  note! 

See  the  crown  that  king  Solomon  wore, 
Which  his  mother  placed  on  his  head, 
On  the  day  when  his  nuptials  were  held, 
On  the  day  when  his  heart  was  glad. 

2.  The  Exposition 

This  canticle  gives  a  detailed  description  of  Solomon's 
gala-carriage  and  refers  to  the  crown  he  wore  on  his  wedding 
day.  From  the  wilderness  of  Judah  it  approaches  the 
city,  raising  a  cloud  of  dust.  The  palanquin  is  a  work  of 
art,  made  of  costly  wood  covered  with  gold  and  silver, 
and  inlaid  with  gems.  Sixty  warriors  stand  round  about 
it.  The  crown  which  Solomon  wore  may  be  seen  and  ad- 
mired by  the  women  of  Jerusalem.  Why  did  the  poet 
draw  this  picture?  It  is  held  by  many  scholars  that  he 
wished  to  describe  a  bridal  procession,  in  which  the  bride- 
groom impersonated  King  Solomon  and  his  friends  the 
warriors  of  Solomon.  He  is  on  his  way  to  secure  his  queen, 
the  queen  of  his  heart,  and  on  his  head  is  a  crown  that  may, 
therefore,  be  regarded  as  Solomon's  crown.  Because  of 
this  impersonation,  his  simple  carriage  may,  with  poetic 
253 


8  Canticle  4  : 1-7  The  Messages 

license,  be  described  in  terms  that  would  suit  the  royal 
carriage  of  Solomon.  While  this  is  not  impossible,  no 
evidence  has  yet  been  produced  that,  in  Jewish  circles, 
bridegroom  and  bride  ever  impersonated  on  their  wedding 
day  Solomon  and  the  Shunemite,  or  king  and  queen  at 
all.  It  may  be  that  the  song  is  a  royal  epithalamion,  like 
•  Ps.  45,  in  honor  of  a  later  Jewish  king,  Alexander  Jan- 
naeus  or  Hyrcanus  II,  who  is  represented  as  using  Solo- 
mon's carriage  and  Solomon's  crown.  It  is  so  different  in 
style  from  the  poems  characteristic  of  our  author  that  it 
may  well  have  been  added  to  the  anthology  from  some 
other  source. 

IX 

THE   EIGHTH  CANTICLE 

{Chap.  4  : 1-7) 

I.  The  Translation 

In  praise  of  Behold,  thou  art  fair,  my  love. 

the  beloved  Behold,  thou  hast  eyes  like  doves, 

And  hair  like  a  flock  of  goats 
That  rush  down  Gilead's  slopes. 

Thy  teeth  are  a  flock  of  ewes, 
That  come  refreshed  from  the  bath, 
And  all  of  them  bearing  twins, 
Not  one  of  them  barren  is. 
254 


of  the  Poets  8  Canticle  4  :  1-7 

Thy  lips  are  a  scarlet  thread, 
And  beautiful  is  thy  mouth. 
Thy  cheek  is  a  pomegranate, 
And  out  it  peeps  through  thy  veil. 

Thy  neck  is  like  David's  tower; 
'Twas  built  for  an  arsenal, 
Where  a  thousand  bucklers  hang, 
All  the  shields  of  heroes  great. 

Thy  two  breasts  are  like  young  fawns 
That  pasture  where  lilies  grow. 
"When  the  day  begins  to  decline, 
And  the  shadows  grow  in  length, 

To  mountains  of  myrrh  I  speed, 
To  the  hills  of  incense  go. 
ThoCl  art  fair,  my  dearest  friend. 
No  fault  can  be  found  in  thee. 


2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  canticle  the  poet  describes  his  beloved.  There 
is  no  intimation  that  she  is  his  bride,  or  wife,  or  fiancee. 
Her  eyes,  hair,  teeth,  lips,  cheek,  neck,  and  breasts  are 
praised.  The  comparison  with  doves,  goats,  ewes,  pome- 
granates, and  fawns,  while  somewhat  crude,  are  not  with- 
out a  quaint  grace.    That  of  her  neck  with  David's  tower 

25s 


9  Canticle  4:8-5:1  The  Messages 

is  the  least  effective,  and  his  evident  purpose  to  praise  her 
by  this  comparison  for  her  many  victories  in  love,  while 
in  harmony  with  the  poet's  feelings  elsewhere  expressed, 
may  not  be  altogether  to  our  taste.  He  has  evidently  seen 
the  slopes  of  Gilead.  In  the  evening  he  hopes  to  meet  his 
beloved. 


THE   NINTH   CANTICLE 
{Chaps.  4  :  8-5  :  i) 

I.  The  Translation 

The  lover  He:  Come,  my  bride,  from  Lebanon; 

charm?o?^  Comc  with  me  from  Lebanon! 

his  beloved  ,  jrj.Qjj^  ^jjg  ^Qp  Qf  Amana, 

From  Senir  and  Hermon  turn! 

Sister,  thou  hast  captured  me, 
Caught  me  with  those  eyes  of  thine, 
With  a  turn  of  thy  proud  neck. 
Sweet,  my  sister,  is  thy  love. 

Better  is  thy  love  than  wine, 
And  thy  fragrance  than  all  spice; 
Honey  lies  upon  thy  lips, 
Sweetest  milk  beneath  thy  tongue. 
256 


of  the  Poets  9  Canticle  4:8-5:1 

A  closed  garden  is  my  bride, 
Spring  shut  up  and  fountain  sealed; 
A  pomegranate  park  thy  lap, 
With  its  very  precious  fruit, 

Nard,  calamus,  cinnamon, 
And  all  trees  of  frankincense, 
Saffron,  myrrh,  and  aloes. 
And  of  spices  what  is  best. 

She:  North-wind,  wake,  and  come  south-wind, 
Stir  the  garden,  perfume  spread! 
Let  my  love  his  garden  see. 
Let  him  eat  its  precious  fruit, 

He:  To  my  garden  I  have  come, 
Myrrh  and  balsam  gather  here, 
Honey-comb  and  honey  eat. 
And  my  wine  and  milk  I  drink. 

2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  dialogue  six  stanzas  are  spoken  by  the  lover, 
only  one  by  his  beloved.  He  calls  her  "my  bride"  and 
"my  sister."  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  may  be  in- 
ferred from  either  term  as  to  their  official  relationship. 
The  mention  of  Lebanon,  Amana,  Senir,  and  Hermon  may 
indicate  that  her  home  was  in  the  north  and  that  she  was 

257 


lo  Canticle  5  :  2-16  The  Messages 

a  stranger  in  the  parts  where  the  poet  lived.  He  praises 
her  love,  her  kisses,  and  her  maidenhood..  She  invites 
him,  with  frank  outspokenness,  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  her 
love,  and  he  describes  his  eager  acceptance.  The  stranger 
has  captured  him  with  one  glance  of  her  eyes,  one  turn  of 
her  proud  neck.  He  is  pleased  to  think  that  this  neck  is 
not  like  David's  arsenal,  where  a  thousand  bucklers  of 
great  heroes  have  hung.  Like  Meleager  our  poet  prob- 
ably had  his  experiences.  The  singer  of  love  is  often 
polytropos,  turned  by  his  heart  in  many  directions,  and 
there  is  no  telling  whether  the  Lebanon  district  gave  him 
a  Penelope  or  a  Calypso, 

XI 

THE   TENTH   CANTICLE 
♦  {Chap.  5  :  2-16) 

I.  Translation 

The  maiden,  I  was  asleep,  but  my  heart  waked, 

foverde-^'^  My  lover  called:  "Open  for  me! 

h^l^ty!"''  Wet  with  the  dew  my  head  is  now, 

And  with  the  drops  of  night  my  locks." 

"My  tunic  I  have  taken  ofif. 
How  should  I  put  it  on  once  more? 
My  feet  with  water  I  have  washed, 
How  should  I  soil  them  now  again?" 

258 


of  the  Poets  lo  Canticle  5  :  2-16 

He  stretched  his  hand  in  through  the  hole, 
And  O!  for  him  my  heart  was  moved. 
I  rose  to  let  my  darling  in, 
And  then  my  hands  dripped  with  the  myrrh. 

I  opened  for  my  love  myself. 
Alas!  my  lover  was  not  there. 
My  soul  was  troubled  for  his  sake, 
I  sought  him  and  I  found  him  not. 

I  cried,  but  he  no  answer  gave. 
The  watchers  of  the  walls  found  me. 
They  beat  me,  roughly  treated  me. 
My  veil  they  lifted  from  my  face. 

"O  women,  I  would  have  you  swear, 
Daughters  of  Zion,  if  ye  find 
My  lover,  that  ye  let  him  know 
How  I  am  pining  for  his  love." 

"What  is  thy  lover,  fairest  maid. 
That  in  this  way  thou  adjur'st  us?" 
"Fair  is  my  lover,  ruddy  too. 
The  chiefest  of  ten  thousand  he. 

"His  head  is  of  the  purest  gold. 

His  locks  are  as  the  ravens  black. 

His  eyes  like  doves  in  the  ravines. 

Washed  as  with  milk,  perched  by  the  streams. 

259 


lo  Canticle  5  :  2-16  The  Messages 

*  His  cheeks  like  beds  of  balsam  are, 

Like  towers  rising  from  afar. 

His  lips  the  reddest  lilies  are, 

And  with  the  flowing  myrrh  they  drip. 

'Like  golden  circles  are  his  hands. 
That  have  been  set  with  Tarshish  gems. 
His  belly  is  an  ivory  seat 
That  is  inlaid  with  sapphire  stones. 

"His  legs  like  porphyry  columns  are 
That  rest  on  golden  pedestals. 
His  figure  is  like  Lebanon, 
As  choice  as  is  a  cypress-tree; 

"And  full  of  sweetness  is  his  mouth. 
Yea,  all  of  him  is  my  delight. 
This  is  the  one  I  dearly  love. 
Ye  women  of  Jerusalem." 


2.  The  Exposition 

The  motif  in  this  canticle  is  the  same  as  in  the  sixth. 
It  is  also  reminiscent  of  the  fourth.  There  is  not  the  same 
reserve  and  delicate  grace,  however,  as  in  those  master- 
pieces. Yet  the  first  part  of  the  canticle  may  come  from 
the  hand  of  the  original  poet,  who  wished  to  vary  his 
earlier  themes.  The  opening  line  is  exquisite.  It  is  in 
260 


of  the  Poets  lo  Canticle  5  :  2-16 

the  night  or  early  morning.  The  lover  knocks  at  the  door; 
but  his  beloved  hesitates  to  put  on  her  tunic  and  soil  her 
feet  once  more.  He  stretches  in  his  hand  through  the  hole 
attempting  to  open  the  door  from  without.  This  stirs  the 
compassion  of  the  young  woman,  and  she  goes  to  open  for 
him.  As  she  touches  the  hole  in  the  door,  her  hands  drip 
with  myrrh  left  by  his  hand  or  his  lips.  But  he  is  gone. 
When  she  seeks  him  in  the  city,  the  watchers  of  the  walls 
beat  her  and  raise  her  veil.  The  original  song  may  have 
ended  with  this,  suggesting  the  moral  that  if  a  young 
woman  will  not  open  the  door  for  her  lover,  desire  for  him 
may  lead  her  into  danger,  and  she  may  be  punished  by  the 
rough  treatment  the  guardians  of  the  city's  walls  may  find 
it  proper  and  diverting  to  accord  to  a  woman  walking  the 
streets  alone  in  the  dead  of  night. 

The  singer  who  gave  to  this  canticle  its  present  form  in 
Jerusalem  could  see  no  objection  to  introducing  a  group 
of  women  found  at  that  time  of  the  night  in  the  streets  of 
the  capital.  It  probably  seemed  to  him  a  clever  idea  to 
have  the  heroine  put  these  women  under  oath  that  they 
would  let  him  know  how  she  is  pining  for  love  of  him.  If 
he  should  accost  them,  let  them  be  sure  to  deliver  the 
message.  But  how  shall  they  know  him?  She  will  de- 
scribe him  so  that  there  can  be  no  mistake.  Hair,  eyes, 
cheeks,  lips,  hands,  legs,  and  trunk  are  then  pictured  forth. 
If  wasjs  on  the  bridegroom  were  sung  in  those  days,  this 
may  have  been  drawn  from  such  a  descriptive  song.     But 


II  Canticle  6  : 1-3  The  Messages 

there  certainly  is  nothing  in  the  situation  that  suggests  a 
wedding.  No  part  of  the  canticle  is  compatible  with  the 
notion  that  it  celebrates  wedded  love.  Neither  during  the 
nuptials  nor  ever  after  is  it  likely  to  behave  in  this  manner. 


XII 

THE  ELEVENTH  CANTICLE 

(Chap.  6  : 1-3) 

I.  The  Translation 
The  Whither  is  thy  lover  gone, 

maiden's  _,   .  ^ 

response  to  Fairest  among  women  ? 

womer^"""^  Whither  has  thy  darling  turned? 

Let  us  seek  him  with  thee. 

To  his  garden  he  has  gone, 
For  to  gather  balsam, 
Of  his  garden  taste  the  fruit, 
Make  his  choice  of  lilies. 


2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  dainty  little  madrigal  a  company  of  women  are 

represented  as  asking  the  heroine  where  her  lover  is  gone 

and  offering  their  assistance  in  seeking  him.     She  answers 

with  happy  assurance  that  she  knows  full  well  where  he 

262 


of  the  Poets  12  Canticle  6  :  8-10 

has  gone.  He  has  walked  down  into  his  garden  to  pick 
fruit  and  flowers,  and  there  she  will  find  him.  To  look 
for  allegorical  meanings  in  these  lines  is  particularly  in- 
admissible, as  she  would  not  be  alone  and  seeking  him,  if 
her  body  were  the  garden  meant,  to  which  he  had  gone,  and 
she  would  not  refer  to  a  rival  as  "his  garden."  The  literal 
sense  is  the  only  natural  one  and  presents  a  charming 
idyl  of  a  summer's  day.  "I  belong  to  my  lover  and  my 
lover  is  mine  who  feeds  his  flock  among  lilies,"  verse  3,  is 
a  refrain  not  belonging  to  the  original  canticle. 


XIII 

THE  TWELFTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  6  : 8-10) 

I.  The  Translation 

Of  queens  there  are  full  three-score,  The  lover 

Of  concubines  full  four-score,  Salts  hff 

And  maidens  without  number.  ^  °^^ 
Yet  only  one  is  my  dove. 

Her  mother  finds  her  perfect. 
And  pure  she  who  once  bare  her, 
Women  see  her  and  bless  her. 
Yea,  queens  themselves  must  praise  her. 
263 


12  Canticle  6  :  8-10  The  Messages 

She  looks  forth  like  the  morning, 
As  lovely  as  the  moon  is, 
And  as  the  sun  she  pure  is. 
And  terrible  as  Nergal. 

2.  The  Notes 

Between  this  and  the  preceding  canticle  there  are  in 
verses  4-7  a  number  of  lines  copied  from  another  song 
and  a  tristich  that  may  have  come  from  some  lost  canticle. 
This  tristich  reads: 

"Thou  art  fair,  my  friend,  as  Thirza, 
Pleasant  as  Jerusalem, 
Terrible  as  is  Megiddo(?)." 

Thirza  was  chosen  because  of  the  meaning  of  the  name, 
and  to  avoid  the  mention  of  Shechem  or  Samaria,  which 
would  have  suggested  the  homes  of  the  Samaritan  sect. 
The  letters  forming  the  word  nidgaloth  probably  represent 
some  place-name,  like  Megiddo,  in  the  original  text. 
"Turn  thy  eyes  away  from  me,  for  they  disturb  me"  may 
have  come  from  the  same  canticle.  "Who  is  this?"  in 
verse  10  is  redundant  and  should  be  stricken  out. 

3.  The  Exposition 

In  the  twelfth  canticle  the  poet  sings  the  praises  of  the 
mistress  of  his  heart.     He  calls  her  "my  dove."     She  is 
264 


of  the  Poets  13  Canticle  6:11-7:9 

the  only  one  he  cares  for.  Kings  may  have  sixty  queens 
and  eighty  concubines  and  as  many  maidens  as  they  please. 
He  is  satisfied  with  her,  and  her  alone.  Yet  there  is  a 
certain  distant  reverence  and  admiration.  She  belongs  to 
her  mother,  and  her  mother  knows  she  is  perfect  and  pure. 
When  women  behold  her,  they  praise  her  beauty;  and 
even  if  queens  should  see  her,  they  must  needs  join  in  the 
praise.  She  is  a  Diana,  not  a  Venus.  She  bursts  upon 
his  vision  like  the  rose -fingered  dawn,  is  as  lovely  as  the 
moon  and  as  pure  as  the  sun,  but  also  terrible  as  Nergal- 
Mars.  Like  the  god  of  war,  she  has  come  forth  to  con- 
quer, and  his  heart  has  been  captured.  He  is  in  the  first 
stages  of  a  fresh  experience  of  love.  The  last  stanza  is  a 
choice  specimen  of  the  poet's  art. 


XIV 

THE  THIRTEENTH   CANTICLE 
{Chaps.  6  :  1 1-7  :  9) 

I.  The  Translation 

To  the  garden  of  nuts  I  went  down  The  dancer 

To  behold  the  green  plants  by  the  brook,  of  aSiS 

To  observe  if  the  vine  was  in  bloom,  ^^^ 

If  the  pomegranate  was  in  flower, 
265 


13  Canticle  6:11-7:9  The  Messages 

If  the  love-apples  fragrant  were. 
My  own  mind  I  hardly  knew; 
To  the  carriages  fancy  me  led 
Of  Amminadab;  then  I  turned. 

Ammina-  Turn  about,  O  Shunemite,  turn, 
daVs  men:  Turn  about,  that  we  may  look  at  thee. 
She:  Of  the  Shunemite  what  will  ye  see 
In  a  dance  of  the  camping-place? 

Ammina-  O  how  beautiful  are  thy  feet 
daVsmen:  In  thy  shoes,  thou  a  noble's  child! 
Of  thy  hips  the  joints  are  like  gems, 
Like  the  work  of  an  artist's  hand. 

Like  a  goblet  round  is  thy  lap; 
May  the  mixed  wine  in  it  not  fail! 
Like  a  wheat-heap  thy  belly  is, 
Set  about  with  anemones. 

Thy  breasts  are  like  two  young  fawns, 
Like  the  twins  of  a  roe  they  are; 
And  thy  neck  like  the  ivory  tower 
In  the  gate  of  Rabbath  Ammon; 

Like  the  pools  in  Heshbon  thine  eyes, 
And  thy  nose  like  Lebanon's  tower, 
And  like  Carmel  thy  head  on  thy  neck, 
And  like  royal  purple  thy  hair. 
266 


of  the  Poets  13  Canticle  6:11-7:9 

O  how  fair  and  graceful  thou  art! 
Thou  art  loved,  daughter  of  delights. 
Like  a  palm  is  thy  stature  tall, 
And  thy  arms  like  its  branches  are. 

Thy  breasts  are  like  clusters  of  grapes, 
And  like  apples  the  smell  of  thy  breath, 
And  thy  palate  is  like  the  best  wine, 
Trickling  down  over  lips  and  teeth. 


2.  The  Notes 

The  first  line  of  the  second  tetrastich  has  been  displaced; 
it  is  found  in  some  manuscripts  of  the  Greek.  At  the  end 
of  this  stanza  the  words  ''Then  I  turned  "  have  fallen  out  of 
the  Hebrew  text.  In  the  "Sumanite"  of  the  Greek  text  m 
and  n  have  been  transposed.  The  Shunemite  is  an  allu- 
sion to  Abishag  of  Shunem,  the  most  beautiful  woman  in 
Israel,  and  a  pretty  compliment  to  the  dancer.  In  later 
times  the  name  changed  to  Shulem,  and  the  Hebrew  text 
has  recorded  this  change.  The  name  of  the  owner  of  the 
carriages,  Amminadab,  has  been  preserved  in  many  manu- 
scripts of  the  Hebrew  text,  as  well  as  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  versions.  For  Bath  Rabbim  we  should  probably  read 
Rabboth  Ammon,  called  by  the  Greeks  Philadelphia.  The 
last  hne,  ''TrickHng  down  over  lips  and  teeth,"  was  cor- 
rectly understood  by  the  Greek  translators.  The  words 
267 


13  Canticle  6:11-7:9  The  Messages 

immediately  preceding  this  phrase  in  the  Hebrew  are  an 
explanatory  gloss. 

3.  The  Exposition 

In  the  manner  affected  by  him,  the  poet  puts  upon  the 
lips  of  a  beautiful  young  dancer  an  account  of  her  experi- 
ences in  Amminadab's  camp.  She  went  down  to  the  nut 
garden  to  enjoy  the  beauties  of  spring,  to  observe  the  blos- 
soms of  vine,  pomegranate,  and  love-apples.  When  not  con- 
scious of  where  she  was  going,  but  following  where  fancy 
led,  she  came  to  the  camping-place  where  the  carriages  of 
Amminadab  were  and  the  men  in  charge  of  them  lounged. 
When  she  saw  where  she  was  she  turned  away.  But 
it  was  too  late.  Their  flattery  reached  her.  "  Shunemite  " 
they  called  her,  the  fairest  woman  in  Israel.  ^'  Turn  back ! " 
they  cried,  "turn  back  that  we  may  look  at  thee."  She 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  occasion  and  fired  the  spec- 
tators by  her  reckish,  challenging  question:  "What  will 
ye  see,  then,  of  the  Shunemite?"  and  by  the  abandon  and 
grace  of  her  dance  at  the  camping-place.  Stirred  by  the 
rhythmic  movements  of  her  body,  their  imagination  vents 
itself  more  and  more  freely  in  the  accompanying  song, 
which  describes  the  beauty  of  her  feet,  dainty  and  san- 
dalled, as  though  she  were  a  noble's  daughter,  her  hips  like 
those  of  figurines  and  statues  the  Greek  artists  loved  to 
fashion,  her  breasts  and  her  neck,  her  eyes,  nose,  and  hair, 
her  lap  which  would  never  lack  the  offerings  of  love, 
268 


of  the  Poets  14  Canticle  7  :  10-13 

her  tall,  slender  form,  and  her  lips  that  would  always  dis- 
pense their  intoxicating  wine.  We  do  not  know  how  the 
ivory  tower  looked  in  the  gate  of  Philadelphia,  if  that  was  the 
place,  and  may  not  fancy  eyes  that  remind  of  Heshbon's 
pools,  or  a  nose  like  Lebanon's  tower,  any  more  than  the 
allusions  to  things  which  our  modern  taste  would  rather 
leave  out  of  the  picture;  but  the  poet  is  not  to  be  judged 
by  our  standards,  and  the  distance  is  not  so  great  between 
Amminadab's  camping-place  and  the  scenes  our  poets 
have  often  described  with  a  somewhat  daintier  touch.  It 
is  an  extraordinary  notion,  suggested  by  nothing  in  the 
text,  and  wholly  out  of  harmony  with  the  setting,  that  this 
poem  describes  the  sword-dance  executed  by  a  bride  and 
that  the  men  of  the  camp  are  the  friends  of  the  bridegroom; 
and  it  is  quite  an  impenetrable  mystery  how  the  moral  tone 
can  be  improved  by  making  this  dancer  a  newly  married 
woman  and  this  song  a  celebration  of  wedded  love. 

XV 

THE  FOURTEENTH  CANTICLE 

{Chap.  7  :  10-13) 

I.  The  Translation 


I  to  my  lover  true  belong,  An  invitation 

from  the 
young 
woman  to 


And  his  desire  is  all  for  me. 
Come,  let  us  go  into  the  field,  he°r"lo?er' 

And  let  us  lodge  in  villages; 
269 


14  Canticle  7  :  10-13  ^^^  Messages 

And,  rising,  to  the  vineyards  go, 
See,  if  the  vine  has  budded  yet. 
The  tender  grape  has  yet  appeared. 
The  pomegranate  has  blossomed  yet, 

The  mandrakes  give  their  fragrance  forth. 
The  fruits  that  grow  beside  our  door, 
Whether  these  fruits  be  old  or  new, 
I  have  for  thee,  my  lover,  stored. 

2.  The  Exposition 

This  canticle  is  in  the  poet's  peculiar  vein.  It  is  the 
woman  who  speaks.  She  loves  and  lives  in  the  happy 
confidence  that  his  desire  is  all  for  her.  Her  heart  is  set 
upon  an  outing  with  him,  and  she  invites  him  to  go  with 
her  into  the  country,  to  roam  about  in  a  free  and  easy 
manner,  lodging,  when  night  comes,  in  the  villages,  and 
rising  early  in  the  morning  to  admire  the  beauty  of  nature. 
Such  fruits  as  they  cannot  find  in  the  field  they  will  enjoy 
when  they  return.  There  is  a  fine  air  of  rural  simplicity 
and  grace  in  this  poem,  and  the  less  reason  for  excogitating 
a  hidden  meaning,  as  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  return 
to  her  home  for  the  satisfaction  of  love. 


270 


of  the  Poets  15  Canticle  8  :  1-2 

XVI 

THE   FIFTEENTH   CANTICLE 

{Chap.  8  :  1-2) 

I.  The  Translation 

O  that  thou  wert  my  brother,  Theiove-sick 

Nursed  at  my  mother's  bosom,  plaint 

I'd  kiss  thee  when  I  met  thee, 
And  none  despise  me  for  it. 

To  mother's  house  I'd  take  thee. 
The  room  of  her  who  bore  me, 
And  make  thee  drunk  with  spiced  wine, 
With  must  of  the  pomegranate. 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  woman  upon  whose  lips  this  song  is  placed  is 
desperately  in  love  and  has  suflFered  for  showing  her 
affection.  She  lives  with  her  mother  and  is  manifestly 
unmarried,  since  otherwise  no  one  would  despise  her  for 
kissing  her  husband.  Would  that  her  lover  were  her 
brother!  Then  she  could  kiss  him  without  being  looked 
down  upon  with  contempt.  Then  there  would  be  no  dis- 
agreeable comments,  if  she  should  take  him  home.  No 
finger  of  scorn  would  be  raised  against  her,  if  she  were 
closeted  with  him,  as  she  has  evidently  been  with  her 
friend,  firing  his  blood  with  the  wine  of  her  love. 
271 


i6  Canticle  8  :  5-7  The  Messages 

XVII 

THE   SIXTEENTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  8  : 5-7) 

I.  The  Translation 

A  psan  of  Who's  this  that  from  the  desert  comes, 

love 

Leaning  upon  her  lover's  arm? 
I  stirred  thee  under  the  apple-tree, 
Where  thine  own  mother  conceived  thee. 

Hang  me  as  signet  on  thy  heart, 
Wear  me  as  bracelet  round  thy  arm. 
For  strong  is  love  as  death  is  strong, 
And  passion  hard  as  is  the  grave. 

Its  flames  are  hke  the  flames  of  fire, 
Its  flashes  like  the  lightning's  sheen. 
Much  water  never  will  prevail 
To  quench  the  burning  fire  of  love, 

Nor  are  there  streams  so  powerful 
That  they  can  passion  ever  drown. 
If  one  should  give  all  that  he  has 
For  love,  he  would  be  only  scorned. 


272 


of  the  Poets  i6  Canticle  8  :  5-7 


2.  The  Exposition 

In  this  canticle  the  poet  represents  the  heroine  who  is 
the  chief  speaker  as  coming  with  her  lover  into  the  village 
from  the  wild  country  where  they  have  been.  He  explains 
the  situation  by  two  lines  only  which  he  speaks  to  her. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
apple-tree  is  anything  other  than  an  apple-tree.  Under  its 
shade  her  mother  had  given  herself  in  love's  embrace; 
and  the  daughter  who  was  there  conceived  had  followed 
the  maternal  example.  The  lover  is  proud  and  happy. 
But  it  is  she  who  sings  the  paean  of  love,  and  such  is  its 
sincerity  and  purity,  its  deep  pathos  and  intensity  of  feel- 
ing, its  matchless  grace  and  death -defying  strength  that 
its  equal  is  not  easily  found  in  all  the  erotic  poetry  of 
ancient  times.  She  sings  of  a  love  that  gives  itself  utterly 
and  without  reserve,  that  yearns  for  never-ceasing  con- 
stancy, that  has  in  it  the  inexorable  power  of  death,  the 
unyielding  strength  of  the  grave,  that  falls  like  the  fire  of 
Yah,  the  lightning  from  heaven,  and  consumes  everything 
with  its  flames,  that  cannot  be  bought,  for  it  is  the  heart's 
free  gift.  This  rises  far  above  the  realm  of  barter  and 
dowries,  of  family  arrangement  and  convenience,  of  the 
lusts  of  the  eye  and  of  the  flesh.  It  is  the  flame  divine. 
It  has  in  it  something  of  the  nature  of  Dante's  experience: 
"Behold  a  god  stronger  than  I  who  coming  shall  reign 
over  me!"  In  these  wonderful  stanzas  the  poet  celebrates 
273 


17  Canticle  8  :  8-10  The  Messages 

his  highest  triumph.  He  has  entered  woman's  innermost 
life  as  nowhere  else,  and  put  upon  her  trembling  lips  a 
message  to  which  the  chords  of  the  human  heart  will 
vibrate  as  long  as  man  shall  live. 


XVIII 

THE   SEVENTEENTH   CANTICLE 
{Chap.  8  : 8-10) 

I.  The  Translation 

The  sister's       The  brothers:  We  have  a  little  sister, 
heSoSers  She  has  as  yet  no  breasts. 

What  shall  we  do  with  sister. 
When  she  is  spoken  for? 

Is  she  a  wall,  we  will  place 
Upon  it  silver  copings; 
Is  she  an  open  door,  will 
Shut  it  with  boards  of  cedar. 


She:  A  wall  I  am,  and  my  breasts 
Have  grown  to  be  like  towers. 
Therefore  I  am  in  their  eyes 
Like  one  who  conquests  makes. 

274 


of  the  Poets  17  Canticle  8  : 8-10 

2.  The  Notes 

A  soldier  who,  as  the  fruit  of  his  bravery,  finds  peace  and 
prosperity,  is  one  who  has  achieved  victories  and  made 
conquests. 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  poet  represents  the  brothers  of  his  friend,  her 
natural  guardians,  as  considering  when  she  was  a  little 
girl  what  course  to  pursue  with  her.  If  she  should  prove 
to  be  a  wall  hard  to  besiege  and  raze,  they  would  honor 
her;  if  she  turned  out  to  be  an  open  .door  through  which 
any  one  might  enter,  they  would  shut  her  up  and  treat  her 
as  a  prisoner.  Her  proud  answer  is:  "I  have  grown  to  be 
a  strong,  beautiful,  and  independent  woman,  knowing  how 
to  take  care  of  myself  and  the  interests  of  my  heart.  I 
have  won  my  victories,  made  my  conquests,  and  you  now 
have  learned  to  recognize  that  I  should  be  treated  as  a 
conqueror."  The  recurrence  of  certain  motives  in  a  num- 
ber of  the  songs  renders  it  probable  that  the  love  which 
first  taught  the  poet  how  to  sing  was  an  attachment  for  a 
black-eyed,  comely  young  woman  living  in  her  mother's 
house,  jealously  watched  by  her  brothers,  but  chafing 
under  all  restraints,  passionate,  self-willed,  regardless  of 
public  opinion,  rich  in  sentiment,  fond  of  nature  and  the 
free  life  out-of-doors,  proud  of  her  victories,  yet  capable  of 
high  devotion,  singularly  frank  and  naive,  yet  shy,  tender, 

275 


i8  Canticle  8  :  11-12  The  Messages 

and  delicate  in  her  feelings.  Such  a  character  is  not  a 
purely  literary  creation  by  an  author  like  our  poet.  It  is  a 
copy  from  nature,  drawn  by  a  skilful  hand,  but  also  by  a 
heart  that  beat  with  love  and  admiration. 

XIX 

THE   EIGHTEENTH   CANTICLE 
(Chap.  8  :  11-12) 

1.  The  Translation 

The  lover's  Solomon  had  a  vineyard  in  Baal  Hamon, 

vSeyard  He  intrusted  this  vineyard  to  keepers. 

Each  man  a  thousand  shekels  received  for  its  fruit. 

A  vineyard  I  have,  and  its  fruit  before  me. 

The  thousand  I  gladly  let  Solomon  have, 

And  the  keepers  are  welcome  to  fruit  they  received. 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  first  tristich  refers  to  some  current  story  about  a 
rich  vineyard  belonging  to  Solomon.  It  yielded  so  much 
fruit  that  each  keeper  received  when  he  sold  it  a  thousand 
shekels.  Alluding  to  the  woman  he  had  found,  the  author 
announces  to  the  world  that  he  does  not  envy  King  Solomon 
his  thousand  shekels  nor  the  keepers  the  fruit  which  they 
kept  for  themselves.  There  is  no  wealth  in  the  world  like 
276 


of  the  Poets  19  Canticle  8  :  13-14 

that  which  a  woman's  love  brings.  The  tristich  and  the 
style  probably  indicate  that  this  canticle  does  not  come 
from  the  great  poet  from  whose  pen  most  of  the  songs  in 
this  collection  flowed. 

XX 

THE   NINETEENTH   CANTICLE 

{Chap.  8  :  13-14) 

1.  The  Translation 

He:  Thou  that  in  the  garden  dwell'st,  The  lover's 

Friends  are  waiting  for  thy  voice,  SS'wer^ 

Cause  thou  me  to  hear  it! 

She:  Flee,  my  lover,  be  thou  like 
To  a  roe,  to  a  young  hart 
On  the  fragrant  mountains! 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  last  canticle,  consisting  of  two  tristichs,  shows  little 
originality.  In  the  first  stanza  the  lover  invites  his  friend 
to  sing  because  his  comrades  wish  to  hear  her  and  he 
longs  himself  to  hear  her  voice.  The  second  is  an  imita- 
tion of  the  original  poet,  copying  the  playful  refusal,  but 
without  the  ingenious  hint  of  later  satisfaction.  It  has 
often  been  remarked  that  the  anthology  would  not  have 
suffered  had  it  ended  with  the  wonderful  sixteenth  canticle. 
277 


MINOR  POEMS 


I 

INTRODUCTION   TO   THE   MINOR   POEMS 

I.  The  Poems  Included 

Almost  every  book  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  contains  some 
lines  of  poetry.  Even  in  the  midst  of  historical  narratives 
poems  are  often  inserted.  Sometimes  it  is  merely  a  lyrical 
fragment,  a  curse  or  a  blessing,  a  prayer  or  a  lament.  At 
other  times  it  is  a  long  and  carefully  elaborated  literary 
production,  an  ode  of  victory  or  a  threnody,  a  description 
of  the  tribes  of  Israel  or  a  prophecy.  Such  poetic  inser- 
tions are  lacking  only  in  the  romances  of  Ruth  and  Esther 
and  the  memoirs  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  In  the  histor- 
ical books  there  may  be  many  more  than  have  yet  been 
recognized.  Notably  in  the  early  chapters  of  Genesis 
some  fragments  may  have  lost,  through  carelessness  in  the 
transmission  of  the  text,  the  distinguishing  marks  of 
rhythm  and  metric  structure.  The  Massorites  observed 
the  poetic  character  of  many  of  these  songs,  and  they  have 
sometimes  been  indicated  as  poems  in  manuscripts  and 
printed  texts.  In  other  instances,  however,  the  songs  were 
written  in  continuous  lines  as  prose  and  suffered  from  the 
281 


Minor  Poems — Introduction  The  Messages 

hands  of  copyists,  who  were  not  aware  of  their  real  nature. 
A  few  additions  might  undoubtedly  be  made  to  the  present 
collection,  but  it  contains  all  that  may  be  naturally  ex- 
pected. Since  the  Psalter  has  been  treated  in  another 
volume  of  this  series,  a  late  psalm  ascribed  to  David  in 
2  Sam.  22,  taken  over  from  some  Davidic  collection,  and 
preserved  also  in  Ps.  i8,  and  a  psalm  likewise  ascribed  to 
David  in  i  Chron.  i6  :  8-36,  pieced  together  by  an  inter- 
polator from  Pss.  96,  105,  and  106,  have  been  left  out. 

2.  The  Origin  of  the  Poems 

Those  who  recited  the  mighty  deeds  of  Yahwe  at  fes- 
tivals or  other  public  gatherings  were  probably  in  the 
first  place  prophets  and  prophetesses.  The  inspired  seers 
uttered  oracles,  pronounced  curses  and  blessings,  chanted 
paeans  of  victory,  lamented  the  dead,  and  sang  songs  of 
derision.  Folk-songs  may  live  on  the  lips  of  the  people, 
being  preserved  in  faithful  memory  from  generation  to 
generation;  but  they  do  not  spring  from  the  lips  of  the 
common  people.  Even  the  simplest  art  must  be  learned, 
and  though  the  names  of  the  artists  may  be  forgotten,  they 
were  men  and  women,  rising  in  their  day  above  the  ordinary 
level  of  intelligence  and  skill.  It  was  apparently  at  the 
great  annual  festival  in  the  spring  that  Deborah,  the 
seeress,  chanted  her  ode  of  victory  in  the  presence  of  the 
princes  of  Israel.  In  the  same  manner  many  another 
282 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems— Introductioi;! 

song  may  have  first  been  introduced  at  some  sanctuary. 
Reciters  of  well-known  songs,  like  those  of  the  conquest, 
may  have  appeared  not  only  at  local  shrines  but  also  at 
camping-places.  Gradually  there  grew  up  collections  of 
songs,  after  the  art  of  writing  had  been  introduced,  such 
as  the  Book  of  Songs  and  the  Book  of  the  Brave,  which 
we  know  to  have  existed  in  the  time  of  Solomon.  Even  in 
telling  the  stories  of  the  heroes,  it  is  likely  that  skilled 
narrators,  before  the  development  of  a  prose  style,  natu- 
rally fell  into  a  semi-poetic  strain,  and  it  is  not  impossible 
that  parallelisms  and  measured  length  of  lines  now  and 
then  met  with  in  the  Judaean  and  Ephraimitish  chronicles 
go  back  to  this  early  custom. 

3.  Their  Insertion  in  the  Present  Text 

To  the  first  historical  writers  these  snatches  of  song 
were  of  priceless  value.  They  gathered  them  where  they 
could  find  them,  and  particularly  drew  on  the  extant  col- 
lections. Occasionally  there  would  be  a  reference  to  the 
author  or  the  event  celebrated  by  way  of  a  preface.  In 
other  cases  the  contents  spoke  unmistakably  of  the  situa- 
tion the  poet  had  in  mind.  Often  it  was  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  the  song  was  originally  sung  by  some  famous 
person  of  the  period  referred  to.  Not  infrequently,  how- 
ever, a  slight  suggestion  would  be  sufficient  to  turn  the 
historian's  thought  to  a  certain  event.  In  any  case,  the 
283 


Minor  Poems— Introduction  The  Messages 

song  served  at  once  as  text  and  illustration.  It  furnished 
material  and  it  enlivened  the  narrative.  It  had  the  value 
of  a  document  substantiating  an  important  statement  of 
fact,  and  it  imparted  to  the  story  a  certain  dignity  and  a 
much-aflfected  elevation  of  style.  Though  it  cannot  be 
proved,  it  is  altogether  probable  that,  not  only  the  first 
historical  writers  in  Judah  and  Israel,  but  already  the 
popular  reciters  at  the  shrines  whose  stories  they  recorded, 
thus  enriched  their  narratives  with  occasional  poems.  In 
a  measure  it  is  perhaps  possible  to  determine  whether  a 
song  originated  in  the  Negeb,  in  Judah,  or  in  Israel,  and 
hence  whether,  in  all  probability,  it  was  incorporated  in 
one  or  the  other  of  the  earliest  story  books  that  He  at  the 
foundation  of  our  Pentateuch.  But  this,  after  all,  can 
only  be  of  secondary  value.  The  later  historians,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  followed  the  traditional  estimate,  and 
adhering  to  the  same  principles,  added  other  songs. 

4.  The  Authorship  of  the  Poems 

A  number  of  the  songs  are  not  ascribed  in  the  text  to 
any  author.  Such  are  the  Song  of  the  Tower  of  Babel, 
the  Dirge  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  Song  of  the  Ark, 
the  Song  of  the  Crossing  of  Arnon,  the  Song  of  the  Taking 
of  Be'er,  and  the  Song  of  the  Conquests  of  Sihon.  Four 
at  least  may  with  some  assurance  be  assigned  to  the  tradi- 
tional authors.  These  are  the  Song  of  Deborah,  the  Elegy 
284 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Introduction 

of  David  over  Saul  and  Jonathan,  the  Elegy  of  David  over 
Abner,  and  the  Words  of  Solomon  at  the  Dedication  of  the 
Temple.  In  the  exposition  following  the  translation  of 
each  of  the  other  songs  the  reasons  will  be  briefly  sug- 
gested why  they  cannot  be  regarded  as  having  come  from 
the  authors  to  whom  they  are  ascribed  in  the  text.  The 
names  of  the  real  authors  are  not  known,  but  they  have 
often  revealed  in  a  striking  manner  their  personality  in 
their  poems. 

5.  Their  Date 

The  Song  of  Deborah  is  generally  regarded  by  critics  as 
the  earliest  literary  document  in  Israel.  Frequent  repeti- 
tion has  possibly  made  the  statement  to  this  effect  appear 
more  certain  than  in  reality  it  is.  A  more  searching  textual 
and  historical  criticism  will  scarcely  permit  any  longer  the 
ascription  of  the  songs  dealing  with  the  conquest  of  the 
East  Jordan  country  to  the  period  of  the  two  kingdoms  of 
Judah  and  Israel,  but  renders  it  probable  that  they  go 
back  to  the  time  of  the  invasion.  The  song  celebrating 
the  battle  of  Gibeon  is  probably  also  older  than  the  Song 
of  Deborah,  and  the  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  dirge  may 
antedate  the  famous  ode.  The  Song  of  Lamech  and  the 
Curse  and  Blessing  of  Noah  are  manifestly  much  earlier 
than  David's  time.  Beside  the  genuine  poems  of  David 
and  Solomon,  several  of  the  longest  productions  in  this 
collection,  such  as  the  Blessings  of  Isaac,  the  Blessing  of 
285 


Minor  Poems— Introduction  The  Messages 

Jacob,  and  the  Prophecies  of  Balaam  seem  to  come  from 
the  period  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Blessing  of  Moses 
apparently  dates  from  the  ninth  century.  The  Taunt- 
Song  on  Sennacherib  and  the  oracle  against  this  Assyrian 
king  no  doubt  originated  in  the  time  of  Isaiah,  even  if  they 
cannot  have  come  from  him;  and  the  Song  of  the  Exo- 
dus, the  Song  of  Moses,  the  Curse  of  Jericho,  and  the 
Last  Words  of  David  may  still  be  pre-exilic.  Only  the 
Song  of  Hanna  and  the  Song  of  Youth  and  Age  in  Eccle- 
siastes  are  clearly  productions  of  the  Greek  period.  While 
none  of  these  poems  can  be  dated  with  absolute  certainty, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
they  are  older  than  the  rest  of  extant  Hebrew  poetry. 

6.  Their  Historic  Value 

The  modern  historian  may  not  be  able  to  use  them  with 
the  implicit  faith  of  the  early  historical  writers  in  Israel  as 
documentary  material.  As  he  cannot  affirm  concerning 
any  of  them  that  it  was  written  in  such  and  such  a  year,  so 
he  cannot  declare  that  it  gives  unimpeachable  testimony 
as  to  the  occurrence  of  this  or  that  event.  The  Song  of  the 
Tower,  though  very  old,  can  no  more  vouch  for  the  con- 
fusion of  tongues  at  Babylon,  than  the  Song  of  the  Exodus, 
which  is  very  young,  can  testify  to  the  miracle  of  the  Red 
Sea.  The  Blessing  of  Moses  and  the  Prophecies  of 
Balaam  throw  as  little  light  on  the  period  of  the  invasion 
286 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Introduction 

as  the  Blessings  of  Isaac  and  the  Blessing  of  Jacob  on  the 
patriarchal  age.  Not  a  single  date  in  the  history  of  Israel 
could  be  fixed  by  these  songs.  They  do  not  help  us  to 
determine,  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  when  Arnon  was 
crossed,  or  Be'er  taken,  or  Heshbon  rebuilt,  or  when  the 
battles  were  fought  at  Gibeon,  by  the  river  Kishon,  or  on 
Gilboa's  mountains. 

On  the  other  hand,  historical  research  is  not  deterred 
to-day  by  the  admixture  of  miraculous  elements  from 
acknowledging  a  nucleus  of  fact.  The  drying  up  of  peren- 
nial streams,  the  standing  still  of  sun  and  moon,  the  fight- 
ing of  stars  from  their  courses  do  not  prevent  the  recogni- 
tion of  three  important  events  in  the  early  history  of  Israel. 
In  the  light  of  recent  discoveries  the  situation  presented  in 
the  Song  of  the  Conquests  of  Sihon  is  as  plausible  as  that 
in  the  Song  of  Deborah.  When  the  descriptions  of  the 
various  tribes  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  the  Blessing  of 
Jacob,  and  the  Blessing  of  Moses  are  compared,  certain 
facts  of  historic  development  stand  out  so  clearly  that  they 
would  be  surmised  even  if  there  were  no  other  literary 
documents  to  indicate  them.  It  is  only  necessary  to  think 
of  Simeon  and  Levi,  Judah  and  Ephraim,  Reuben  and 
Benjamin.  The  whole  story  of  the  absorption  of  tribes, 
the  growth  of  a  priestly  caste,  the  development  of  rival 
kingdoms  is  suggested  in  these  songs.  David's  lament 
gives,  indeed,  contemporaneous  testimony  to  the  death  of 
Saul  and  Jonathan,  and  the  Taunt-Song  on  Sennacherib 
287 


Minor  Poems — Introduction  The  Messages 

would  not  have  lived  on  the  lips  of  the  people  if  Jerusalem 
had  not  escaped  the  sack  it  feared.  The  chief  historic 
importance,  however,  lies  in  the  light  the  poems  shed  on 
the  unfolding  of  Israel's  social  life,  its  customs,  ideas,  and 
sentiments. 

7.  Their  Ethical  and  Religious  Significance 

Since  the  bulk  of  these  poems  existed  long  before  the 
great  pre-exilic  prophets,  the  psalmists,  and  the  wisdom- 
teachers  had  appeared,  they  are  especially  valuable  as 
affording  some  knowledge  concerning  the  moral  sentiments 
and  religious  conceptions  prevalent  in  earlier  times.  The 
value  of  these  ideas  and  ideals  has  been  estimated  in  the 
General  Introduction,  and  will  often  be  touched  upon  in 
the  exposition  of  the  songs.  It  may  be  added  that,  in 
spite  of  the  great  variety  of  sentiment  expressed,  and  the 
marked  individuality  of  the  poets,  certain  lines  of  develop- 
ment may  be  observed  within  this  collection.  The  fierce 
sense  of  tribal  justice,  voicing  itself  in  the  Song  of  Lamech, 
the  Curse  of  Noah,  the  Dirge  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and 
the  Song  of  Deborah,  has  manifestly  given  place  to  some 
extent  in  the  Davidic  age  to  more  humane  feelings  of  en- 
lightened patriotism  in  the  Prophecies  of  Balaam,  an  almost 
apologetic  imperialism  in  the  Blessings  of  Isaac,  and  a 
nascent  cosmopolitanism  in  the  Song  of  the  Tower.  The 
rare  capacity  for  generous  judgment  and  whole-hearted 
288 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Introduction 

friendship  which  the  elegy  over  Saul  and  Jonathan  evinces 
is  no  doubt  a  personal  quality;  but  a  David  living  a  few 
centuries  later,  when  the  Song  of  Moses  was  written,  would 
have  had  a  deeper  consciousness  of  sin,  and  sought  the 
worth  of  a  human  personality  in  other  qualities  than  those 
the  great  king  praised.  Similarly,  the  Song  of  the  Tower, 
the  Dirge  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the  Command  to  the 
Sun  and  the  Moon,  the  Song  of  Deborah,  and  Solomon's 
Temple  Dedication  reveal  a  still  flourishing  polytheism, 
and  the  Song  of  the  Ark,  the  Oracle  of  the  Fire,  and,  to 
some  degree,  the  Priestly  Benediction,  show  very  primitive 
ideas  connected  with  the  cult,  while  the  Song  of  Moses,  the 
Taunt-Song  on  Sennacherib,  the  Song  of  the  Exodus,  and 
the  Song  of  Hanna  indicate  the  advance  of  Hebrew  re- 
ligion toward  monotheism  and  a  more  spiritual  worship. 
Too  much  stress,  however,  must  not  be  laid  on  this  prog- 
ress. Neither  in  the  series  of  songs  here  collected  from 
the  Hebrew  Bible,  nor  in  the  books  that  make  up  the 
Hebrew  canon,  is  it  possible  to  maintain  that  that  which 
is  later  is  necessarily  higher,  judged  from  a  moral  and  re- 
ligious stand-point.  There  was  an  evolution  of  morality 
and  religion  in  ancient  Israel,  but  our  fragmentary  records 
do  not  permit  us  to  follow  its  growth.  We  catch  glimpses 
now  and  then  of  the  scenery  along  the  road,  but  we  can 
never  be  sure  that  we  have  seen  the  best.  There  can,  of 
course,  be  no  question  of  emulating  the  example  of  heroes 
praised  in  these  songs,  unless  it  seems  to  us  good,  or  cherish- 
289 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  4  :  23,  24 


The  Messages 


ing  such  mora!  sentiments  as  are  expressed  in  them,  unless 
our  conscience  approves,  or  accepting  the  rehgious  ideas 
set  forth,  unless  they  appear  to  us  to  be  true.  When  read 
with  proper  historic  judgment,  and  with  an  earnest  desire 
to  enter  sympathetically  into  the  lives  of  the  poets  and  into 
the  events  that  stirred  them,  these  poems  cannot  fail  to  be 
spiritually  helpful. 

II 


Lamech  de- 
clares his 
exacting 
standard  of 
blood-re- 
venge (Gen. 
4  :  23,  24) 


THE   SONG   OF  LAMECH 
(Gen.  4  :  23,  24) 

I.  The  Translation 

Adah  and  Zillah, 
O  listen  to  me! 
Ye  wives  of  Lamech, 
Give  ear  to  my  voice: 

For  a  man  I  slay. 
If  a  wound  I  get. 
And  a  youth  I  kill. 
If  I  am  but  bruised. 


If  vengeance  for  Cain, 
Is  wreaked  sevenfold, 
Lamech  is  avenged 
Seventy  times  and  seven. 
290 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  4  :  23,  24 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  Kenites  are  favorably  known  for  the  strictness  with 
which  they  enforce  the  law  of  blood-revenge.  If  one  life 
is  taken  from  this  tribe,  seven  lives  are  demanded  from  the 
offending  tribe  to  atone  for  it.  But  the  Lamechites  are 
even  more  exacting.  They  take  seventy-seven  lives  for 
one,  and  kill  a  man  for  a  wound.  Of  the  names  mentioned 
in  the  song,  Cain,  or  Qayin,  is  that  of  the  Kenite  tribe  in- 
habitating  the  eastern  part  of  the  Negeb  near  the  Arabah 
and  the  southern  end  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Here  they  had 
cities  in  the  days  of  David  (i  Sam.  30  :  29).  In  earlier 
times  they  had  been  nomads,  invading  the  steppe-land, 
probably  from  Mount  Seir.  Later,  their  cities  were  taken 
away  from  them  and  they  became  again  nomads  in  the 
Negeb.  This  roaming  life  seemed  to  many  a  city  dweller 
a  curse,  which  must  have  been  caused  by  their  crimes,  and 
the  story  was  told  of  their  cruel  treatment  of  a  lost  brother- 
tribe,  Abel.  They  were  Yah  we  worshippers,  however, 
and  bore  in  their  bodies  the  Yahwe  sign,  probably  circum- 
cision; therefore  they  were  not  without  divine  protection, 
though  they  had  no  sanctuaries  in  the  cultivated  land,  and 
Yahwe  would  not  allow  any  one  to  attack  them  with  im- 
punity. The  Jerahmeelites  were  the  western  neighbors 
of  the  Kenites.  They  also  had  cities,  the  finest  in  the 
Negeb.  It  is  possible  that  the  Lamech  tribe  belonged  to 
the  Jerahmeelites.  Tubal-Cain  is  the  Tubal  clan  among 
291 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  4  :  23,  24  The  Messages 

the  Kenites,  as  the  Ma'inu-Mizran  are  the  Mina^ans  living 
in  what  was  regarded  as  territory  belonging  to  Egypt,  and 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Tubal  in  Asia  Minor.  It  is 
probably  of  Edomitish  origin,  as  Tubal-Cain's  "sister" 
Naamah  is  the  Edomitish  clan  whence  Zophar  in  the 
Book  of  Job  comes.  Adah  and  Zillah  are  no  doubt  also 
clan  names,  otherwise  unknown.  Since  Tubal-Cain,  and 
not  Lamech,  is  represented  in  the  genealogical  legend  as 
the  ancestor  of  those  who  work  in  brass  and  iron,  the  poet 
certainly  did  not  think  of  Lamech  as*  flourishing  unusual 
weapons,  fresh  from  the  forge,  when  addressing  his  wives; 
and  nothing  could  be  further  from  his  thought  than  to 
stigmatize  bigamy  as  an  evil.  None  of  the  Jewish  law- 
codes  regards  bigamy  as  a  crime.  The  song  is  probably 
earlier  than  David's  time,  and  has  been  preserved  in  a 
story  book  of  Judaean  origin.  It  has  been  pointed  cut  by 
Budde  that  this  book  cannot,  at  the  time  when  the  story 
of  Jabal,  Jubal,  and  Tubal-Cain  was  written,  have  con- 
tained any  reference  to  the  deluge. 


292 


of  the  Poets 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  9  :  25,  26 


III 

THE  CURSE  AND   BLESSINGS  OF  NOAH 
(Gen.  9  :  25,  26) 

I.  The  Translation 

Canaan  be  cursed,  a  slave  of  slaves 
To  his  own  brothers  let  him  be! 

Bless,  O  Yahwe,  the  tents  of  Shem, 
Let  Canaan  be  to  him  a  slave! 

Let  God  to  Japhet  give  wide  space, 
And  let  him  dwell  in  Canaan's  tents! 


May  Canaan 
be  forever 
the  slave  of 
his  brethren; 
may  they 
grow  great ! 
(Gen.  9  :  25, 
26) 


2.  The  Notes 

We  should  probably  read  "bless"  as  an  imperative,  and 
not  "blessed,"  "tents"  ('ohol^)  and  not  "God"  {'elohe), 
and  in  verse  26  "Canaan,"  not  "Shem."  It  is  perfectly- 
evident  that  the  singer  cannot  desire  Japhet  to  take  pos- 
session of  Shem's  tents.  The  word  for  "dwell"  does  not 
mean  "be  a  guest." 

3.  The  Exposition 

Canaan,  Shem,  and  Japhet  are  represented  as  brothers 
and  sons  of  Noah.  Canaan  is  cursed,  Shem  is  blessed, 
^Tid  the  wish  is  expressed  that  Japhet  may  grow  at  Canaan's 

293 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  9  :  25,  26  The  Messages 

expense.  Canaan  is,  of  course,  the  name  of  the  Canaanites, 
including  the  Phoenicians.  Shem,  as  the  special  object  of 
Yahwe's  care,  has  been  generally  supposed  to  be  Israel. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  already  in  this  song  it  is  the 
name  of  a  somewhat  larger  congeries  of  tribes,  conscious 
of  a  closer  kinship,  including,  besides  Israel,  many  of  the 
tribes  of  Judah,  the  Negeb,  Edom,  and  the  East  Jordan 
country.  Japhet  is  probably  a  similar  name  including 
some  tribes,  like  the  Cretans,  the  Pelethites,  the  Zakka- 
lians,  and  the  Philistines.  In  spite  of  their  well-known 
differences,  they  are  regarded  as  brothers  because  of  their 
common  speech  and  their  neighborly  relations  in  a  common 
country.  The  Hebrews,  coming  from  Arabia  Petraea,  had 
adopted  the  speech  of  Canaan,  and  so  had,  no  doubt,  the 
Philistines,  coming  from  Crete,  as  the  place-names  on  the 
coast  and  in  the  Negeb  seem  to  indicate.  The  earlier  pos- 
sessors of  the  land,  the  Canaanites,  had  naturally  become  the 
common  enemy  of  the  invaders.  Let  Canaan  be  robbed  of 
his  land,  subjugated  and  enslaved!  May  the  Philistines 
take  the  Phoenician  cities  on  the  coast!  The  situation  seems 
to  be  that  of  the  twelfth  century  B.C.,  after  the  battle  of  the 
Kishon,  and  before  the  hostile  invasion  of  the  interior  by 
the  Philistines.  The  song  is  not  concerned  about  the 
motives;  it  is  the  later  prose  story  preceding  it  in  the 
present  text  that  seeks  to  justify  the  enslavement  of 
Canaan  by  his  crimes,  particularly  the  practice  of  sodomy. 
The  names  of  two  of  the  brothers  subsequently  acquired  a 
294 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  ii  13,  4,  6,  7 

wider  meaning  so  that  Shem  came  to  include  Arabs,  Ara- 
maeans, Assyrians,  Arrapachaeans,  Chaldaeans,  and  also 
Elamites  and  Lydians,  while  japhet  was  made  to  include  a 
number  of  nations  in  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  the  islands  and 
western  coast  lands  of  the  Mediterranean,  as  different  as 
Carthaginians,  lonians,  and  Scythians.  The  name  of 
Canaan  was  too  closely  attached  to  the  land  of  Canaan  to 
allow  a  similar  expansion,  and  Ham  was  used  to  desig- 
nate the  larger  family  made  up  of  Egyptians,  Libyans, 
Ethiopians,  and  Canaanites. 


IV 

THE   SONG   OF  THE   TOWER 
(Gen.  II  :  3,  4,  6,  7) 

I.  The  Translation. 


"O  lend  a  hand,  let  us  make  brick. 
And  bake  them  till  they  all  are  hard; 
And  let  the  brick  serve  us  for  stone, 
For  mortar  let  us  use  the  mud. 


The  people 
speak:  Let 
us  make  an 
abundance 
of  brick 
(Gen.  II  :  3; 


'O  come,  let  us  a  city  build, 
Whose  tower  shall  reach  unto  the  sky. 
Let  us  set  up  a  landmark  here, 
Lest  we  be  scattered  o'er  the  earth." 

295 


And  build  a 
tower  of  sur- 
passing 
height 
(11:4) 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  1 1  :  3,  4,  6,  7       The  Messages 

The  gods  "Behold,  one  people  with  one  speech! 
tMs^nited  This  is  what  they  begin  to  do. 

GTmbTdius  Soon  naught  will  be  too  hard  for  them 

("  =  ^)  That  enters  in  their  mind  to  do. 

Let  us  con-  "Come,  to  this  place  let  us  go  down, 

speech^"^  And  there  the  speech  of  all  confound, 

^^^''^*  So  that  no  man  shall  understand 

The  language  that  his  neighbor  speaks." 

2.  The  Exposition 

In  the  first  and  second  stanzas  the  builders  speak,  in  the 
third  and  fourth,  the  gods.  The  city  and  the  tower  are  to 
be  built  of  brick,  and  the  tower  is  to  be  so  high  that  it  may 
serve  as  a  landmark  and  prevent  the  people  from  being 
scattered  over  the  earth.  Even  without  the  context  it 
would  be  clear  that  this  song  refers  to  a  Babylonian  city 
and  its  zikkurat,  or  temple-tower.  The  Hebrew  poet  who 
adopted  the  legend  of  the  tower,  whose  top  was  to  reach  to 
the  sky,  no  doubt  understood  the  city  to  be  Babylon.  In 
heaven  there  is  a  council  of  the  gods  Attention  is  called 
to  the  fact  that  all  men  have  the  same  language  so  that 
they  can  easily  communicate  one  with  another.  As  long 
as  this  is  the  case,  they  will  continue  to  plan  such  dangerous 
schemes.  This  is  only  the  beginning  of  their  proud  and 
heaven -defying  enterprises.  Nothing  will  be  too  hard  for 
them  if  they  are  united.  This  union  is  dangerous  to  the 
296 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  1 1  :  3,  4,  6,  7 

supremacy  of  the  gods.  If  the  tower  is  allowed  to  reach 
heaven,  men  will  ascend  to  the  very  abode  of  the  gods. 
Hence  the  gods,  jealous  of  man's  growing  powers,  decide 
that  they  will  go  down  and  confound  the  speech  of  all,  so 
that  no  one  shall  be  able  to  understand  what  his  neighbor 
says.  No  legend  of  this  kind  has  yet  been  found  in  Baby- 
lonian literature,  yet  the  elements  out  of  which  it  grew  were 
Babylonian.  Babylon  itself  is  clearly  the  city  built  of 
brick  by  primeval  men,  the  old  Marduk  temple  with  its 
zikkurat,  probably  the  structure  especially  referred  to,  the 
great  capital  with  its  cosmopolitan  population,  where 
Shumerians,  Akkadians,  Amorites,  Kashites,  Chaldaeans, 
Aramaeans,  Arabs,  Elamites,  and  Hittites  lived,  more  likely 
than  any  other  to  be  the  place  where  the  confusion  of 
tongues  was  supposed  to  have  occurred.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary to  infer  from  the  polytheistic  setting  that  the  myth 
originated  in  Babylonia.  That  the  gods  held  their  councils 
was  known  in  Syria  as  well.  The  singer  may  have  been  a 
Hebrew  who  at  some  time  had  visited  Babylon,  seen  its 
great  temple  with  its  tower,  tried  in  vain  to  make  himself 
understood  in  its  streets,  experienced  what  the  power  of 
Babylon  meant,  and  learned  to  see  in  the  curse  of  unintel- 
ligible languages  dividing  mankind  a  blessing  in  disguise, 
as  it  prevented  men  from  encroaching  upon  the  domains 
of  the  gods  in  heaven,  and  from  other  deeds  of  arrogance 
and  wickedness.  The  naive  idea  that  heaven  might  be 
reached  by  adding  new  stages  to  a  temple -tower,  the  con- 
297 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  ii  13,  4,  6,  7       The  Messages 

ception  of  the  anxiety  of  the  gods  on  account  of  this  enter- 
prise, and  the  notion  of  their  jealousy  of  man's  power  unmis- 
takably point  to  a  very  early  time,  and  the  preservation  of 
the  pantheon  itself  indicates  that  the  text  was  relatively 
fixed  before  the  monotheistic  tendency  had  affected  it.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  sense  of  the  divisive  influence  of  the 
difference  of  speech,  and  of  its  tendency  to  frustrate  com- 
mon undertakings,  seems  to  reveal  more  advanced  re- 
flection. It  is  not  possible,  however,  to  determine  how 
early  such  a  feeling  may  have  arisen,  and  the  attempt  to 
build  a  world-empire  with  its  power  centralized  in  Babylon, 
coming  to  an  end  by  the  intervention  of  the  gods,  appears 
to  have  been  a  recent  memory.  As  the  frank  polytheism 
of  the  song  forbids  the  assumption  that  it  could  have  been 
written  after  the  end  of  the  Chaldaean  empire,  it  may  go 
back  to  a  period  when  the  earlier  Babylonian  empire  could 
still  be  remembered. 


298 


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THE  SONG   OF  SODOM  AND  GOMORRAH 
(Gen.  18  :  20  f.;  19  :  24  f .) 

I.  The  Translation 

The  cry  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  's  great 
That  very  grievous  is  their  wickedness. 
I  will  go  down  and  see  whether  the  cry 
Coming  to  me  is  true,  or  know,  if  not. 

On  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  Yahwe  rained; 
Brimstone  and  fire  from  out  of  heaven  came. 
Cities  and  region  he  did  overthrow, 
Fruit  of  the  ground  and  dwellers  in  the  towns. 


Because  of 
their  extreme 
wickedness, 
God  de- 
stroyed 
Sodom  and 
Gomorrah 
with  fire 
from  heaven 
(Gen.  18  : 
20  f.;  19  :  34 


2.  The  Exposition 

A  complaint  has  reached  heaven  that  there  is  much 
wickedness  in  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  In  order  to  find 
out  whether  it  is  true,  Yahwe  goes  down.  Discovering  the 
truth,  he  rains  down  brimstone  and  fire  from  heaven  on  the 
guilty  cities,  and  destroys  the  whole  region.  It  may  be 
doubted  whether  this  was  originally  conceived  of  as  the 
deed  of  Yahwe.  Even  in  the  prose  story  there  are  three 
divine  beings  taking  part  in  these  events.  But  that  the 
god  comes  down  from  heaven  may  not  be  urged  against 
Yahwe's  participation.  A  divinity  whose  element  is  the 
299 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  i8  :  20  f;  19  :  24  f  The  Messages 

storm-cloud  may  well  descend  from  heaven  and  send  his 
fire  and  brimstone  thence.  It  seems  to  have  been  supposed 
that  the  Dead  Sea  once  was  a  rich  and  fruitful  region  with 
flourishing  cities.  The  abnormal  condition  of  this  sea  in 
which  nothing  lives,  and  on  whose  shores  nothing  thrives, 
so  diflferent  from  the  lovely  lake  of  Galilee,  appeared  to 
proclaim  that  it  was  under  a  curse.  A  curse  comes  because 
of  some  great  transgression,  and  the  transgressors  were  the 
people  of  the  region.  Once  it  had  been  a  veritable  garden 
of  Eden,  like  the  land  of 'Egypt.  But  swift  destruction 
came,  the  cities  were  overthrown,  and  the  people  killed, 
the  fruits  of  the  ground  destroyed,  and  the  whole  territory 
made  what  it  has  been  ever  since.  The  catastrophe  came, 
not  by  volcanic  forces  from  below,  but  through  fire  and 
brimstone  hurled  from  heaven.  There  is  not  the  slightest 
intimation  in  the  song  or  in  the  prose  account  of  any  sub- 
terranean or  terrestrial  agents.  From  the  geologic  period 
when  the  Dead  Sea  was  formed,  no  records,  memories,  or 
traditions  had  come  dowTi  to  the  poet's  time.  It  is  in  folk- 
psychology  and  mythology,  not  in  the  facts  revealed  by 
modem  natural  science,  the  origin  of  the  story  must  be 
sought.  We  do  not  know  how  old  the  names  Jebel  Usdum 
and  Wadi  Ghumran  are.  No  city  could  ever  have  stood  in 
either  place.  There  have  indeed  been  many  communities 
on  the  shores  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and  some  abandoned  places 
may  have  borne  the  names  Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah,  and 
Zeboim.  The  story  attached  itself  to  these  names. 
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of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  25  :  23 


VI 

THE   ORACLE   OF  JACOB  AND   ESAU 
(Gen.  25  :  23) 

I.  The  Translation 

Two  nations  are  within  thy  womb,  Ofthychil- 

Two  peoples  from  thy  bowels  come.  rentie 


One  people  shall  the  other  rule, 
The  elder  shall  the  younger  serve. 

2.  The  Exposition  • 

Jacob  and  Esau  are  two  nations:  Israel  and  Edom. 
They  are  kindred  and  have  a  common  origin.  An  oracle 
is  put  upon  the  lips  of  their  putative  mother  in  which  she 
foretells  their  future.  The  younger  people  is  Israel,  but 
it  will  rule  over  the  older,  Edom.  Before  David,  Edom 
was  independent,  having  its  own  kings  when  there  were  no 
kings  over  Israel.  A  precious  list  of  these  kings  has  been 
preserved  in  Gen.  36,  covering  the  period  from  about 
1200  B.  C.  to  1050  B.  C.  In  the  time  of  David  and 
Solomon,  Edom  was  ruled  from  Jerusalem.  Then  it  was 
known  that  the  older  was  destined  to  serve  the  younger; 
and  then  this  oracle  was  produced  to  justify,  by  the  divine 
intention  from  the  beginning,  the  ruthless  destruction  of 
Edomitish  independence. 

301 


younger  shall 
rule  the  older 
(Gen.  25:  23) 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  27  :  27-29 


The  Messages 


Let  Jacob  be 
blessed  with 
abundance 
of  corn  and 
wine;  let  him 
be  supreme 
over  brethren 
and  peoples 
(Gen.  27  : 
27-29) 


VII 

Isaac's  blessing  of  jacob 

(Gen.  27  :  27-29) 

I.  The  Translation 

My  son  smells  with  the  odor 
Of  field  that  Yahwe  blesses. 

Of  heaven's  dew  let  him  give  thee, 
Of  corn  and  wine  in  plenty. 

Let  nations  be  thy  servants, 
And  peoples  bow  before  thee. 

Be  lord  over  thy  brothers. 
Thy  mother's  sons  bow  to  thee. 

Who  curses  thee  be  cursed, 
Who  blesses  thee  be  blessed. 


2.  The  Exposition 

Israel  is  blessed  by  Yahwe  with  corn  and  wine,  and  is 
destined  to  rule  over  the  brother-nations,  Edom,  Moab,  and 
Ammon.  This  is  the  condition  in  the  time  of  David  and 
Solomon,  and  an  oracle  describing  this  is  put  upon  the  lips 
of  the  putative  ancestor  in  order  to  show  that  it  had  been 
302 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  27  :  39,  40 

the  purpose  of  Yahwe  from  the  beginning.  In  the  gene- 
alogical epos,  Isaac,  the  benignantly  smiling  numen  of 
Beersheba,  became  the  father  of  Jacob;  and  the  curious 
reversal  in  the  fortunes  of  the  two  brother-nations,  Israel 
and  Edom,  was  explained  by  the  cleverness  with  which 
Israel  cheated  his  father  and  secured  the  blessing  whose 
power  is  such  that  it  works  out  infallibly  the  divinely  in- 
tended destiny. 

The  character  of  the  blessing  is  interesting.  In  sugges- 
tive phrases  it  promises  great  agricultural  prosperity,  such 
as  the  other  nations  could  not  enjoy  so  completely,  and 
adds  a  prediction  of  wide-ranging  supremacy  and  of  sig- 
nificant pre-eminence.  It  is  clear  that  no  picture  like  this 
could  have  occurred  to  an  Israelitish  poet  earlier  than  the 
days  of  David. 

VIII 

ISAAC'S   BLESSING   OF   ESAU 
(Gen.  27  :  39,  40) 

I.  The  Translation 
Far  from  the  rich  earth  thou  shalt  dwell.  Barrenness 


Far  from  the  dew  that  falls  from  heaven. 


of  land  and 
servitude 
shall  be  thy 

Thou  by  thy  sword  shalt  have  to  live,  }ot,  but  at 

.,,,,,  ,  last  thou 

And  to  thy  brother  be  a  slave.  shalt  free 

thyself 

But  when  at  length  thou  shalt  break  loose,  3^,^40)^^ ' 

Thou  shalt  shake  from  thy  neck  his  yoke. 

303 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27  The  Messages 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  destiny  of  Edom  is  to  live  in  a  mountain  region 
where  there  is  no  rich  soil  from  which  to  draw  sustenance. 
Dependent  on  the  sword,  the  nation  will  temporarily  be- 
come subject  to  Israel.  But  it  will  break  loose  and  shake 
off  the  yoke.  This  successful  revolution  probably  took 
place  toward  the  end  of  Solomon's  reign.  For  a  long  period 
Edom  was  independent  until  Amaziah  again  subdued  it. 
The  oracle  is  likely  to  have  been  produced  in  the  second 
half  of  the  tenth  century,  when  the  insurrection  was  still 
fresh  in  mind,  and  the  conditions  in  Judah  rendered  it  im- 
probable that  Edom  could  again  be  brought  into  subjection. 
There  is  a  certain  commingling  of  pity  and  respect  in  this 
oracle.  The  older  son  was,  after  all,  the  father's  favorite, 
and  he  could  not  help  giving  him  also  a  blessing. 


IX 

THE   BLESSING   OF  JACOB 

(Gen.  49  :  3-27) 

Reuben,  the  1.  The  Translation. 

first-bom, 

shall  lose  his  O  Rcuben,  thou  my  first-born  art, 

because  of  The  first-fruits  of  my  manly  strength. 

his  violent, 

character  In  passion  first,  in  violence  first, 

3, 4)°'  '^^  ■  A  bubbling  stream,  shalt  not  be  first. 

304 


of  the  Poets 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27 


Thy  father's  bed  thou  didst  ascend, 
And  thy  sire's  couch  thou  didst  defile. 

Simeon  and  Levi  brothers  are, 
Weapons  of  violence  are  their  swords. 

My  soul,  with  them  no  council  hold, 
My  glory,  shun  their  fellowship. 

For  in  their  wrath  they  slew  a  man. 
In  their  self-will  they  houghed  an  ox. 

Cursed  be  their  fury,  it  was  fierce, 
Their  anger,  for  it  cruel  was. 

In  Jacob  I  will  scatter  them. 
And  them  in  Israel  divide. 


Simeon  and 
Levi  shall  be 
dispersed  in 
Israel  be- 
cause of  their 
self-willed 
turbulence 
and  cruelty 
(49  :  5-7) 


Judah,  thy  brothers  all  praise  thee, 
Before  thee  bow  thy  father's  sons. 

Thou,  Judah,  art  a  lion's  whelp; 

By  prey,  my  son,  thou  hast  grown  great. 

He  couches  as  a  lion,  stoops 

As  lioness.     Who  dares  rouse  him? 


Judah, 
praised  by 
all,  strong, 
bold,  pros- 
perous, shall 
rule  until 
nations  pay 
homage  to 
him 
(49  :  8-12) 


From  Judah  not  the  sceptre  turns, 
Nor  from  his  feet  the  ruler's  staff 

305 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27 


The  Messages 


Till  that  comes  which  belongs  to  him, 
And  nations  to  him  homage  pay. 

He  fastens  to  the  vine  his  ass, 
To  the  choice  vine  his  ass's  foal. 

His  garment  he  in  wine  does  wash, 
His  raiment  in  the  blood  of  grapes. 

His  eyes  are  bright  as  sparkling  wine, 
His  teeth  are  whiter  than  the  milk. 


Zebiolon 
shall  be  a  sea 
dweller 
(49  :  13) 


Beside  the  sea  dwells  Zebulon, 
"Where  havens  are  for  ships  he  lies, 
And  he  his  back  on  Sidon  turns. 


Issachar,  for 

the  sake  of 

ease,  shall 

be  content  to 

serve 

(49  :  14, 15) 


A  Strong  ass  Issachar  is, 
Between  the  folds  he  couches. 

He  saw  how  fine  his  place  was, 
How  very  fair  the  land  was. 

His  back  he  bent  for  burdens, 
A  slave  became  to  task-work. 


Dan  shall  be 
wise  and 
clever  in  car- 
ing for  him- 
self 
(49 :  16, 17) 


Dan  judges  his  own  people, 
As  any  tribe  in  Israel. 

Dan's  on  the  road  a  serpent. 
An  adder  in  the  pathway; 
306 


of  the  Poets 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27 


He  bites  the  heels  of  horses, 
And  backward  fall  the  riders. 

Gad  is  oppressed  by  robbers, 
Yet  he  shall  press  on  their  heel. 

Asher,  how  fat  his  bread  is! 
He  shall  yield  royal  dainties. 

Naphtali  is  a  loose  hind, 

And  lovely  fawns  she  brings  forth. 

A  bullock  is  Joseph,  a  steer. 
The  calf  of  a  wild  bull,  my  son. 

They  grieved  him  and  sent  him  their  shots, 
The  archers  pursued  him  with  force. 

Yet  crushed  was  forever  their  bow. 

And  the  strength  of  their  hands  gave  out, 

Through  the  power  of  Jacob's  Bull, 
The  Shepherd  of  Israel's  sons. 

(Thy  father's  God,  may  he  help  thee, 
El  Shaddai,  may  he  bless  thee 

With  blessings  from  heaven  above, 
And  blessings  from  regions  below, 

307 


Gad  will 
drive  away 
his  foes 
(49  :  19) 

Asher  shall 
live  well 
(49  :  20) 

Naphtali  will 
be  populous 
(49  :  21) 


Joseph  will 
be  fiercely 
attacked,  but 
will  over- 
come his 
enemies 
(49  :  22-24) 


May  God 
grant  him 
every  kind  of 
blessing ! 
(49  :  25,  26) 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  :3-2  7  The  Messages 

With  blessings  of  breasts  and  of  womb, 
And  blessings  of  father  and  child, 

"With  blessings  of  primeval  mounts, 
And  treasures  of  eternal  hills.) 

(On  Joseph's  head  may  these  things  come, 
Among  all  his  brothers  the  prince.) 

Benjamin  Benjamin  is  a  wolf  that  tears, 

shall  be  a  _       ,  •        i  •  j 

taker  of  In  the  mommg  his  prey  devours, 

(49^  27)  In  the  evening  his  spoil  divides. 


2.  The  Notes 

In  49  :  10  we  should  read  with  the  Greek  version,  not 
Shiloh,  but  asher  lo,  later  changed  to  sheloh,  "that  which 
belongs  to  him,"  as  was  seen  by  Wellhausen.  Jacob  is  used 
as  a  synonym  of  Israel.  It  is  possible  that  it  was  first  intro- 
duced in  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon,  as  a  name  for  the 
larger  unity  of  the  IsraeHtish  and  Judahite  tribes.  In  verse 
II  Hmere  means  ''fawns";  the  beautiful  distich  speaks 
throughout  of  Naphtali  as  a  "hind."  The  twelfth  verse 
represents  Joseph  as  a  calf  of  a  wild  bull;  there  is  no  other 
simile;  neither  "fountain"  nor  "wall"  was  thought  of  by 
the  author.  Read  shor,  and  remove  the  dittographs.  The 
Greek  version  has  preserved  the  only  possible  sense  in  14a. 
The  archers  were  unsuccessful;  their  bow  was  always 
308 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27 

crushed;  the  strength  of  their  hands  gave  out;  not  "the 
arms  of  his  hands,"  for  the  young  bullock  does  not  shoot 
with  arrows,  and  has  no  hands,  least  of  all  hands  that  have 
arms.  Why  the  modern  versions  should  perpetuate  such 
arrant  nonsense  passes  understanding.  "From  there" 
should  not  be  changed  to  "from  the  name,"  in  verse  15, 
but  stricken  out,  as  the  metre  requires.  For  ehen  read  bene. 
The  helper  is  not  "the  name  of  the  shepherd  of  the  stone 
of  Israel,"  whatever  the  shepherd  of  a  stone  may  be,  but 
"the  shepherd  of  the  sons  of  Israel,"  thought  of  as  a  herd. 
The  original  oracle  on  Joseph  probably  ended  with  v. 
23.  The  blessing  uses  the  second  person  and  a  name  of 
God  which  was  supposed  to  belong  properly  to  Jacob's  time. 
"On  Joseph's  head  may  these  things  come.  Among  all  his 
brothers  the  prince"  looks  like  a  still  later  addition.  The 
oracles  on  Zebulon  and  Benjamin  are  tristichs;  especially 
the  shorter  oracles  show  a  variety  of  metre,  contrasting 
with  the  uniform  metre  in  the  Song  of  Deborah.  The  first 
collection  of  these  oracles  may  have  been  introduced  simply 
by  the  words:  "Israel  sang." 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  dying  Jacob  is  represented  as  foretelling  the  future 
of  his  sons.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  twelve  individuals 
are  not  addressed.  A  father  could  not  very  well  say  that 
he  would  scatter  two  of  his  sons  in  himself.     Judah,  the 

309 


Minor  Poems— Genesis  49  : 3-27  The  Messages 

son  of  the  nomad,  is  not  a  king.  Zebulon  is  not  a  man  who 
lies  on  the  ground  with  his  face  turned  away  from  the  city 
of  Sidon.  If  Dan  can  judge  his  people  as  well  as  any  tribe 
in  Israel,  he  must  have  a  people,  there  must  be  tribes, 
and  there  must  be  an  Israel  that  is  something  else  than  a 
dying  man.  The  descriptions  of  the  tribes  evidently  came 
from  dififerent  times.  Some  of  them,  like  those  on  Reuben, 
Simeon,  Levi,  Zebulon,  Issachar,  Dan,  Gad,  and  Naphtali 
may  have  originated  before  Saul;  that  on  Benjamin  prob- 
ably comes  from  the  time  of  this  king;  that  on  Judah,  from 
the  reign  of  David.  The  oracle  on  Joseph  would  have  to 
be  assigned  to  the  period  of  the  Israelitish  kingdom  after 
Jeroboam,  if  the  last  distich  must  be  regarded  as  genuine. 
If  it  is  removed,  there  is  no  reason  why  the  archers  should 
not  refer  to  the  nomadic  invaders  in  the  period  before  the 
Philistine  conquest  and  Saul.  Yet  this  must  be  left  in 
doubt. 

Reuben  is  regarded  as  the  oldest  of  the  tribes.  He  has 
lost  his  pre-eminent  position.  Evidently  he  has  been  re- 
duced by  the  Moabitish  neighbors.  A  reason  is  sought 
for  this  change  in  relative  importance  among  the  kindred 
tribes,  and  found  in  his  passionate  and  violent  character. 
Especially  worthy  of  rebuke  is  the  custom  prevailing  in 
this  tribe  of  taking  possession  of  a  father's  concubines, 
possibly  of  using  them  already  in  his  lifetime.  Hence  the 
allusion  to  Bilhah.  Simeon  and  Levi  are  treated  together 
as  turbulent,  cruel,  and  self-willed  tribes  which  therefore 
310 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27 

have  been  scattered  in  Israel.  The  Simeonite  cities  in  the 
Negeb  had  manifestly  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Jerah- 
meelites  at  the  time  this  oracle  was  produced.  In  the  days 
of  David  they  were  Jerahmeelite;  later  they  became  a  part 
of  Judah.  The  Levites,  having  once  their  homes  south  of 
the  Simeonites,  with  Kadesh  Barnea  for  their  centre,  like- 
wise had  been  scattered  and  absorbed;  but  they  had  not 
yet  become  a  priestly  tribe  or  a  name  for  those  who  de- 
voted themselves  to  the  priesthood.  This  dissolution  of 
two  originally  important  tribes  must  be  explained,  and 
there  is  an  allusion  to  their  united  enterprise  in  avenging* 
Dinah.  Whether  the  story  was,  at  the  outset,  laid  in 
Shechem,  may  be  questioned.  Significant  is  the  disavowal 
by  Jacob  of  any  responsibility  for  such  acts.  Judah, 
praised  by  the  others,  is  rich  in  milk  and  wine  and  is  power- 
ful. The  kingdom  belongs  to  this  tribe,  and  the  royal 
sceptre  will  not  be  turned  away  from  it  until  nations  pay 
homage  to  it.  That  is  consequently  what  had  taken  place 
when  the  oracle  was  written,  and  the  nations,  therefore, 
are  the  Moabites,  the  Ammonites,  and  the  Edomites,  sub- 
dued by  David.  The  saying  concerning  Zebulon  is  a 
tristich  from  a  different  source,  not  a  prediction,  but  a 
characterization.  Its  territory  is  east  and  south  of  Sidon, 
and  includes  some  ports  on  the  Mediterranean.  In  still  a 
different  metre  is  the  oracle  on  Issachar,  referring  to  the 
effeminating  influence  upon  a  tribe  once  very  strong,  of  the 
fine  land  it  had  secured  which  finally  made  it  subject  to 
311 


Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  : 3-27  The  Messages 

mightier  neighbors  forcing  its  people  to  slave  -  service .  This 
change  evidently  took  place  after  the  battle  of  Kishon, 
described  in  the  Song  of  Deborah,  and  the  establishment 
of  Saul's  and  David's  kingdoms.  Dan  can  take  care  of 
itself  as  well  as  any  tribe.  It  is  skilled  in  making  raids  on 
travellers.  This  is  mentioned  with  no  disapproval  such  as 
that  expressed  in  the  case  of  Simeon  and  Levi.  As  there  is 
no  allusion  to  its  new  site  at  the  fountains  of  the  Jordan, 
it  is  probably  earlier  than  the  Song  of  Deborah,  and  even 
the  removal  before  the  war  against  Sisera  from  its  home 
on  the  borders  of  Philistia.  Gad's  future  is  to  be  brighter 
than  its  past.  Ammonites,  Moabites,  Midianites,  Minaeans 
have  been  crowding  in  upon  him;  but  his  turn  will  come 
and  he  will  drive  them  away.  This  he  has  done  when  the 
saying  was  coined.  The  final  deliverance  came  through 
Saul  and  David.  Asher  probably  yielded  no  dainties  for 
the  royal  table  before  David  or  Solomon  required  them. 
Naphtali  is  a  somewhat  wild  hind,  but  it  is  fruitful  and  its 
growing  communities  are  fine.  Joseph,  that  is  Ephraim 
and  Manasse  conceived  as  a  unit,  is  a  wild  young  bullock 
pursued  by  archers.  But  the  enemies  of  this  tribe  have 
not  been  successful.  It  has  escaped  all  attacks  through 
the  strength  of  Jacob's  Bull,  the  god,  who  has  watched 
over  it  as  a  shepherd  over  the  herd.  Its  land  is  rich  and 
its  population  growing.  If  the  last  distich  is  genuine,  Jero- 
boam's kingdom  is  presupposed.  But  it  may  have  been 
added  in  the  tenth  century.    In  that  case  conditions  obtain - 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Genesis  49  13-27 

ing  in  the  latter  part  of  the  period  of  the  judges  are  depicted. 
Among  the  divine  names  Yahwe  does  not  occur.  He  may 
be  indicated,  however,  by  the  title  "Bull  of  Jacob,"  as  we 
know  that  he  was  worshipped  in  Bethel  as  well  as  Dan 
under  the  form  of  a  bull.  El  Shaddai  is  used  as  an  ap- 
propriate archaism  in  the  added  benediction.  The  descrip- 
tion, in  a  tristich,  of  Benjamin  is  either  older  than  the 
catastrophe  described  in  the  appendix  to  the  Book  of 
Judges,  or  more  probably  later,  coming  from  the  time  of 
Saul. 

Zimmern  and  others  have  endeavored  to  show  that  the 
twelve  tribes  are  described  in  a  manner  suggesting  the 
twelve  signs  of  the  zodiac.  In  the  case  of  Reuben,  Zebulon, 
Gad,  and  Asher  there  certainly  is  nothing  to  justify  this 
assumption.  Ass,  serpent,  hind,  and  wolf  are  not  zodiacal 
signs;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  zodiac  was  known 
in  Israel  when  these  oracles  were  written. 


4.  The  Historical  and  Religious  Value  of  the  Poem 

A  close  inspection  of  this  poem  shows  that  it  was  one  of 
the  compositions  that  were  popular  in  Israel,  reflecting  the 
conditions  of  the  Israel  of  the  early  kingdom,  when  the 
nation  was  becoming  unified  and  was  realizing  its  strength 
and  indulging  in  hopes  of  a  brilliant  future.  It  was  frankly 
ascribed  to  the  dying  Jacob,  as  a  sort  of  pre-view  of  the 

3^3 


Minor  Poems — Exodus  15  : 1-18 


The  Messages 


history  of  the  nation.  Crude  and  frank  as  many  of  its 
expressions  are,  the  poem  breathes  a  loyalty  to  the  nation- 
ality and  to  Yahwe  which  stirs  the  reader's  blood. 


X 


THE   SONG   OF   MOSES 
(Ex.  15  : 1-18) 

I.  The  Translation 


I  praise 
Yahwe  who 
hath  given  us 
a  glorious 
deliverance 
(Ex.  IS :  1-7) 


In  the  sea  he 
caused  our 
foes  to  drown 
(is  :  8-10) 


I  sing  to  Yahwe;  he  has  triumphed. 
He  threw  in  the  sea  horse  and  rider. 
Yahwe  is  my  strength,  brought  deUverance. 
The  God  of  my  fathers  I  praise. 

A  warrior,  Yahwe  is  his  name. 

The  chariots  of  Pharaoh  threw  down, 

His  captains  sank  in  the  Red  Sea, 

Like  a  stone  they  went  down  in  the  deep. 

Thy  right  hand  is  glorious  in  power. 
Thy  right  hand,  Yahwe,  smote  the  foe, 
Thy  pride  threw  the  enemy  prostrate, 
Like  stubble  thy  anger  consumed  them. 

At  thy  breath  the  waters  rose  up. 

And  the  floods  stood  upright  hke  a  heap. 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems— Exodus  15  : 1-18 

Said  the  foe:  "I  will  follow,  will  reach, 

Will  draw  sword,  and  my  hand  shall  destroy." 

Thou  blewest  thy  wind,  they  were  covered, 
And  they  sank  in  the  waters  like  lead. 
Among  gods  who  is  like  thee,  O  Yahwe? 
Who  is  glorious  and  holy  as  thou? 

At  thy  bidding  earth  swallowed  them  up,  All  our 

The  redeemed  ones  in  mercy  were  led  seS^wkh^ 

To  thy  holy  place,  where  thou  didst  guide  them.  (j^.  „_j5) 
Peoples  heard  it,  and  troubled  were  they. 

Those  who  dwelt  in  Philistia  trembled; 
In  Edom  the  dukes  were  amazed; 
Terror  seized  on  the  nobles  of  Moab; 
All  the  dwellers  in  Canaan  were  scared. 

A  horrible  fear  fell  upon  them, 
Thy  arm  made  them  still  as  a  stone, 
Till  thy  people,  O  Yahwe,  passed  on. 
Till  thy  people,  redeemed,  passed  them  by. 

In  a  mountain  of  thine  thou  wilt  plant  them,  oh,  bring  us 

The  place  thou  hast  made  to  dwell  in  it,  h°ri?ance! 

The  temple  prepared  by  thine  own  hands.  ^^^  '  ^^^ 
There  forever  Yahwe  shall  be  king. 

315 


Minor  Poems— Exodus  15  : 1-18  The  Messages 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  references  to  Yahwe's  mountain,  whether  Zion  or 
the  land,  and  to  Yahwe's  temple,  render  it  impossible  to 
suppose  that  this  psalm  was  sung  before  the  time  of 
Solomon.  Equally  out  of  harmony  with  the  conditions 
prevailing  at  the  time  of  the  Hebrew  invasion  are  the  allu- 
sions to  the  Philistines,  the  Moabites,  and  the  Edomites. 
The  Philistines,  coming  from  Crete,  settled  on  the  coast 
after  the  Israelitish  tribes  had  invaded  S>Tia.  If  the  cross- 
ing of  the  Red  Sea  seemed  an  imminent  danger  to  the 
people  of  the  West  Jordan  country,  only  a  preternatural 
foresight  of  the  events  of  the  reign  of  David  could  have  in- 
spired Edom  with  fear  of  the  consequences.  Had  the 
Edomite  dukes  known  that  David  would  subdue  one  of 
their  kings  centuries  later,  they  would  also  have  known 
that  their  territory  would  not  be  invaded,  but  circumvented, 
forty  years  after  the  exodus.  IMoab  had  been  conquered 
by  the  Amoritish  king,  Sihon,  and  might  well  have  looked 
hopefully  for  help  from  their  kinsmen.  It  is  the  fate  that 
actually  befell  these  nations  through  David  and  Solomon 
that  is  reflected  in  the  song.  A  later  time  could  see  that 
all  this  was  implied  in  the  deliverance  wrought  by  Yahwe 
at  the  Red  Sea.  The  yayn  suph,  Sea  of  Sedges,  or  Sea 
of  Suph,  was  probably  understood  by  the  poet  as  the 
Heroopolitan  Gulf.  He  knows  the  story,  in  an  advanced 
form,  of  how  the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  stood  up  like  walls 
316 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Exodus  15  :  21 

on  both  sides,  while  the  people  passed  through,  and  how 
the  Egyptians  sank  in  the  deep  like  stones.  Before  the 
scene  was  transferred  to  Egypt,  tradition  may  have  pre- 
served the  memory  of  a  fortunate  escape  by  some  ethnic 
elements,  afterward  entering  into  the  composition  of  the 
Bene  Israel,  across  the  northern  end  of  the  Aelanitic  Gulf, 
through  a  wind  temporarily  laying  bare  the  bottom  near 
a  place  called  Suph.  While  the  song  is  certainly  later  than 
the  fourth  year  of  Solomon's  reign,  there  seems  to  be  no 
necessity  for  supposing  it  to  be  post-exilic.  The  question, 
''Who  is  like  unto  thee,  O  Yahwe,  among  the  gods?"  may 
not  be  decisive  for  an  earlier  date;  but  the  comparison  is 
too  enthusiastic,  the  polytheism  too  frank  and  naive  for  a 
literary  reminiscence,  as  it  is  in  the  Psalter. 

XI 

THE   SONG   OF   MIRIAM 

(Ex.  15  :  21) 

1.  The  Translation 

Sing  ye  to  Yahwe,  for  triumphed  he  has; 
The  horse  and  its  rider  he  threw  in  the  sea. 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  Song  of  Miriam  is  only  a  repetition  of  the  first  two 
lines,  with  the  change  of  one  word,  of  the  Song  of  Moses. 

317 


Minor  Paems— Leviticus  lo  :  3  The  Messages 

There  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  it  is  more  original 
than  the  longer  chant.  It  may  be  a  precious  indication, 
however,  that  women  were  permitted  to  participate,  by 
song  and  dance,  in  the  celebration  of  victories. 


XII 

THE   ORACLE   OF  THE   ALTAR   FIRE 
(Lev.  10  :  3) 

1.  The  Translation 

I  will  be  sanctified  on  those  near  me, 
And  before  all  the  people  glorified. 

2.  The  Exposition 

Strange  fire  has  been  offered  on  the  altar  by  Aaron's 
sons,  Nadab  and  Abihu.  Fire  comes  forth  from  the  face 
of  Yahwe  and  consumes  them  so  that  they  die.  This  gives 
Moses  occasion  to  announce  an  oracle  from  Yahwe.  By 
this  catastrophe  he  has  revealed  himself  as  the  Holy  One, 
who  will  not  permit  the  use  on  his  altar  of  any  other  fire 
than  that  which  he  has  himself  sent  down,  and  which  there- 
fore must  be  kept  up  continually.  His  glory  has  been  seen 
in  the  death  of  the  priests.  It  is  impossible  not  to  think  of 
the  two  sons  of  Jeroboam,  Nadab  and  Abihu,  and  of  the 
rivalry  between  the  priestly  families  of  the  royal  sanctuary 

318 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems— Numbers  6  :  24-26 

in  Jerusalem,  and  those  at  the  older  shrines  in  Bethel  and 
Dan.  The  former  will  not  deny  a  legitimate  origin  to  the 
latter,  but  they  claim  to  be  in  sole  possession  of  the  fire  that 
came  from  Yahwe.  It  was  the  boast  of  the  priesthood  at 
Dan  that  they  descended  from  a  grandson  of  Moses.  The 
Elidae  at  Shiloh  had  regarded  themselves  as  descendants 
of  Aaron;  and  similar  claims  no  doubt  were  made  by  the 
priests  at  other  sanctuaries.  But  the  battle-ground  was 
shifted  to  the  character  of  the  altar-fire.  This  oracle  was 
probably  produced  after  the  fall  of  Samaria,  in  723  B.  C,  at 
a  time  when  the  Yahwe  cult  had  ceased,  or  at  any  rate,  the 
priestly  families  no  longer  officiated  at  the  temples  of  Israel. 
It  had  all  been  foreseen  from  the  beginning. 


XIII 

THE  PRIESTLY   BENEDICTION 
(Num.  6  :  24-26) 

I.  The  Translation 

May  Yahwe  bless  thee,  may  he  keep  thee! 
May  Yahwe's  face  in  grace  shine  on  thee! 
May  Yahwe  lift  his  countenance  on  thee! 
And  may  he  grant  his  peace  to  thee! 


319 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  6  :  24-26  The  Messages 

2.  The  Exposition 

This  beautiful  benediction  was  probably  pronounced  by 
the  priests  of  Yahwe  long  before  there  was  a  high-priest. 
In  the  larger  sanctuaries  there  was  no  doubt  a  graduation 
of  the  priesthood,  and  the  benediction  may  have  been 
uttered  by  its  oldest  or  most  distinguished  member.  But 
only  in  post-exilic  times  was  there  a  high-priest,  who  was 
the  official  representative  of  the  religious  life  of  the  nation 
and  of  the  state  itself.  The  emphasis  on  the  face  of  Yahwe 
possibly  indicates  a  higher  age.  In  the  cult,  the  worshipper 
in  earlier  times  saw  the  face  of  the  god  on  whom  he  called; 
and  it  was  his  chief  joy,  it  gave  assurance  that  his  requests 
had  been  granted,  if  the  face  of  the  deity  gave  the  impres- 
sion of  smiling  graciously  upon  him.  In  the  case  of  a 
solar,  lunar,  or  astral  deity,  images  could  be  dispensed 
with,  and  dependence  was  had  upon  the  apparently  added 
lustre  with  which  the  celestial  being  shone  upon  the  wor- 
shipper. When  all  such  external  symbols  ceased  to  be 
used,  there  was  often  a  hesitancy  to  employ  the  phrase 
"to  see  the  face  of  God,"  and  it  has  frequently  been 
changed  in  our  Hebrew  text,  though  sometimes  allowed  to 
remain.  It  was  taught  that  no  man  can  see  the  face  of 
God  and  live,  and  later  that  his  face  cannot  be  seen. 
Gradually  the  old  phraseology  was  vested  with  a  new  and 
more  spiritual  meaning.  At  first  "peace"  meant  "pros- 
perity," and  therefore  included  the  special  favor  sought. 
320 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Numbers  lo  :  35,  36 

In  course  of  time  it  came  to  signify  inner  satisfaction,  tran- 
quillity of  mind,  rest  in  contemplation  of  the  divine  perfec- 
tion. The  repetition  of  the  sacred  formula  may  have 
conveyed  more  of  this  spiritual  consolation  even  in  ancient 
Israel  than  the  often  too  manifest  pursuit  of  material 
blessings  may  lead  one  to  imagine. 


XIV 

THE   SONG   OF  THE  ARK 

(Num.  10  :  35,  36) 

I.  The  Translation 

Rise,  O  Yah  we,  thy  enemies  be  scattered! 
Let  those  who  hate  thee  flee  before  thy  face! 

To  Israel's  thousands,  O  Yahwe,  return! 

2.  The  Notes 

The  Greek  version,  in  some  manuscripts,  suggests  that 
the  word  "myriads,"  which  makes  the  line  too  long  and  the 
number  excessive,  has  been  added  by  a  later  hand. 

3.  The  Exposition 

When  the  ark  was  carried  with  the  army  to  the  battle, 
the  two  first  lines  were  spoken,  the  last  when  it  was  brought 
back  to  the  sanctuary.     The  sacred  chest  would  not  have 
321 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  lo  :  35,  36  The  Messages 

been  taken  along  if  it  had  not  been  thought  to  insure  in 
a  special  manner  Yahwe's  presence  and  assistance,  nor 
would  it  have  been  felt  to  be  so  important  that  it  be  brought 
back  safely  to  Israel's  thousands,  if  they  had  not  regarded 
its  presence  in  the  sanctuary  as  a  guarantee  of  prosperity. 
We  know  from  the  story  of  its  capture  by  the  Philistines 
and  the  evil  its  possession  brought  to  them,  as  well  as  from 
the  account  of  the  dire  consequences  of  merely  touching  it, 
that  the  power  of  Yahwe  was  considered  as  closely  con- 
nected with  it.  But  critical  students  may  have  somewhat 
unnecessarily  insisted  upon  the  absolute  identification  of 
the  ark  with  Yahwe.  A  stone,  a  chest,  or  a  building  may 
be  thought  of  as  the  place  where  a  divine  being  chooses  by 
preference  to  dwell,  or  to  manifest  himself,  without  ex- 
cluding, on  this  account,  the  idea  that  his  power  may  be 
independent  of  it  and  extend  far  and  wide  beyond  its 
boundary.  The  prayer  or  exhortation  is  directed  to  the 
moral  agent,  not  to  the  object  with  which  he  may  associate 
the  exercise  of  his  power.  As  the  ark  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  removed  from  the  temple  in  Jerusalem,  after  it  had 
been  brought  there,  and  carried  into  the  wars,  these  words 
almost  certainly  come  from  the  period  before  Solomon's 
reign. 


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of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Numbers  21  :  14,  15 

XV 

THE  SONG  OF  THE  CROSSING   OF  ARNON 
(Num.  21  :  14,  15) 

I.  The  Translation 

Yahwe  came,  dried  the  Red  Sea  up, 
With  other  streams  Arnon  as  well, 
Which  falls  where  stands  the  capital, 
And  against  Moab's  border  leans. 

2.  The  Notes 

The  collection  whence  this  song  was  taken  was  called 
"The  Book  of  Wars,"  not  "The  Book  of  the  Wars  of 
Yahwe."  Yahwe  is  the  first  word  of  the  song  itself,  which 
seems  to  have  been  ^^  Yahwe  atha  he}i,erihh  Suph.^'  "We 
eshed  ha-nehalim"  is  dittography  and  ^  is  a  copyist's  error 
for  r.  Yahwe  first  dried  up  the  Sea  of  Suph,  then  other 
streams,  and  finally  Arnon.  Afterward  the  Jordan,  too, 
was  dried  up;  but  that  is  later.  The  Arnon  falls  suddenly 
at  the  place  where  the  city,  the  capital,  stands,  and  the 
river  forms  the  boundary  of  Moab. 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  situation  is  clearly  that  of  the  conceived  advance  of 
Yahwe  from  the  south.     He  dries  up  the  waters  so  that  his 

323 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  21  :  17,  18         The  Messages 

people  can  proceed — the  Red  Sea,  the  other  streams,  and 
the  Arnon.  The  Amoritish  kingdom  of  Sihon  has  pushed 
the  border  of  Moab  down  to  the  Arnon.  There  is  no  vaHd 
reason  for  doubting  that  the  clans  invading  the  East  Jor- 
dan country  from  the  south  found  such  a  kingdom  north 
of  the  Arnon.  This  song  may  go  back  to  the  early  pe- 
riod after  the  invasion,  preserving  the  memory  of  actual 
progress,  while  naturally  ascribing  to  Yahwe  miraculous 
assistance. 

XVI 

THE   SONG  OF  THE   CAPTURE   OF   BE'eR 

(Num.  21  :  17,  18) 

1.  The  Translation 

Spring  up,  O  well;  sing  to  it, 
Well  which  the  princes  digged, 
The  nation's  nobles  delved. 
And  that  with  staves  and  sceptre. 

2.  The  Exposition 

The  capture  of  the  city  of  Be'er  is  described  in  a  song 
which,  alluding  to  the  meaning  of  its  name,  represents  the 
princes  marshalling  their  hosts  against  the  walls  of  the 
town  as  diggers  of  a  well.  The  real  nature  of  their  work 
is,  however,  indicated  by  the  tools  they  use.  Staves  and 
324 


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Minor  Poems — Numbers  21  :  27-30 


sceptres  are  not  used  in  digging  wells,  but  are  the  insignia 
of  command  and  martial  authority.  It  is  not  known 
where  Be'er  was,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  question  that 
the  memory  of  an  early  conquest  by  the  invaders  of  such 
a  town  is  preserved  in  the  song. 


XVII 

THE   SONG  OF   SIHON's  CONQUESTS 

(Num.  21  :  27-30) 

I.  The  Translation 


To  Heshbon  come,  let  built  be, 
Established  Sihon's  city! 
For  fire  went  forth  from  Heshbon, 
From  Sihon's  town  a  flame  burst; 
It  swept  through  Moab's  cities. 
Consumed  Arnon's  high  places. 


Let  Heshbon 
be  built  up, 
whence  has 
gone  forth 
destruction 
to  Moab 
(Num.  21 : 
27,  28) 


Woe  unto  thee,  O  Moab! 
Perished  has  Chemosh'  people. 
He  gave  his  sons  as  captives. 
His  daughters  into  exile. 
Lost  is  their  seed,  from  Heshbon 
To  Daibon,  and  the  women, 

325 


For  the 
people  of 
Moab  have 
perished 
(21  :  29) 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  21  :  27-30  The  Messages 

2.  The  Notes 

In  verse  28  we  should  probably  read  'are  (cities),  and 
for  ha  ale,  with  the  Greek  version,  baarah;  in  verse  29  "to 
the  king  of  the  Amorites,  Sihon,"  is  an  explanatory  gloss; 
in  verse  30  "from"  should  be  added  before  Heshbon,  and 
the  metrically  redundant  line  rendered  in  the  Greek  "still 
a  fire  burnt  over  Moab  "  and  in  the  Hebrew  "  unto  Nophah 
which  is  unto  Medebah,"  should  be  removed. 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  poet  exhorts  his  hearers  to  come  to  Heshbon  to 
build  up  and  establish  Sihon's  city  taken  from  him  by  the 
Israelitish  tribes.  For  from  this  city  the  fire  had  gone 
forth  that  had  consumed  all  of  Moab  down  to  the  Arnon 
and  beyond.  So  completely  had  Sihon  destroyed  the  Mo- 
abitish  strongholds  that  Chemosh's  people  seemed  to  have 
perished  from  Heshbon  in  the  north  to  Daibon  in  the  south. 
Now  that  the  land  of  Sihon  had  been  taken  from  him,  let 
the  city  where  he  reigned  and  which  had  suffered  during 
the  siege  at  the  hands  of  the  Israelites  be  built  up  and 
established.  What  we  know  to-day  concerning  the  spread 
of  Amoritish  power  in  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  and  even  Baby- 
lonia renders  it  altogether  natural  to  suppose  that  there 
once  was  an  Amoritish  kingdom  Hke  that  of  Sihon  in  the 
East  Jordan  country  which  invaded  and  temporarily  sub- 
dued Moab.  There  is  not  the  slightest  indication  that  the 
326 


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Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 


Israelites  are  coming  down  from  the  north,  as  has  been 
frequently  maintained  by  critics.  This  song  does  not  re- 
flect any  known  situation  in  the  ninth  or  eighth  centuries, 
and  no  motive  can  be  seen  for  an  invention  of  such  a  king- 
dom at  a  later  time.  The  poet  was  probably  a  citizen  of 
Heshbon  and  may  have  lived  not  very  long  after  the 
Israelitish  conquest. 

XVIII 

THE  PROPHECIES  OF  BALAAM 
(Num.  23,  24) 

I.  The  Translation 
(i)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  Greatness  (Num.  23  :  7-10) 
From  Edom  has  Balak  me  brought, 
And  from  Kedem's  hills  Moab's  king. 


Come  thou,  and  curse  Jacob  for  me. 
Come,  bring  down  on  Israel  wrath! 

Whom  God  has  not  cursed,  can  I  curse. 
Or  doom  whom  Yahwe  has  not  doomed? 


Balakdesires 
me  to  curse 
Israel,  the 
exempt 
(Num.  23  : 
7,8) 


From  the  top  of  the  rocks  I  descry. 
From  the  hills  I  gaze  upon  him. 

A  people  that  dwells  by  itself; 
Unlike  any  other  it  is. 

327 


Israel  is 
unique,  pop- 
ulous, right- 
eous 
(23  :  9,  10) 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 


The  Messages 


God  is  un- 
alterably de- 
termined to 
bless  right- 
eous Israel 
(23  :  18-21) 


Wao  shall 
surely  be 
successful  in 
conquest 
(23  :  22-24) 


Who  can  number  of  Jacob  the  dust, 
Or  a  fourth  part  of  Israel  count? 

Let  me  die  as  the  just  one  dies, 
My  last  end  be  like  unto  his. 

(2)  The  Prophecy  0}  Israel's  Conquering  Power 
(Num.  23  :  18-24) 

Rise,  Balak,  to  me  listen, 
Give  ear,  O  son  of  Zippor! 

God  cannot  lie,  as  man  does. 
As  son  of  man  repents  not. 

Speaks  he,  must  he  not  do  it. 
Accomplish  what  he  uttered? 

To  bless,  I  am  commissioned. 
Must  bless,  cannot  reverse  it. 

He  sees  no  sin  in  Jacob, 
In  Israel  no  evil. 

Yahwe,  his  God,  is  with  him, 
A  king  gives  glory  to  him. 

No  spell  has  power  on  Jacob, 
No  charm  against  Israel. 

Jacob  will  hear  in  due  time 
What  things  God  has  wrought  for  him. 
328 


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Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 


A  lion  is  this  people, 
It  rises  like  a  lion; 

Rests  not  till  prey  he's  tasted, 
And  drank  of  slain  the  life-blood. 


(3)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  Prosperity  {Num.  24  : 3-9) 
Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  says, 
The  man  whose  eyes  are  closed  declares; 

He  says  who  hears  the  words  of  God, 
From  the  Most  High  his  knowledge  has; 

The  visions  of  the  Almighty  sees. 
And  prostrate,  opened  has  his  eyes: 

How  goodly,  Jacob,  are  thy  tents, 
Thy  tabernacles,  Israel! 

As  river-beds  they  spread  themselves, 
As  gardens  by  the  river  side. 

As  aloes  that  Yahwe  plants. 
As  cedars  by  the  water's  edge. 

Water  shall  from  his  buckets  flow. 
His  seed  shall  grow  by  many  streams. 

His  king  shall  above  Agag  rise. 
Exalted  shall  his  kingdom  be. 

329 


Balaam,  the 
seer,  who 
hath  visions 
from  God 
(24  :  3,  4) 


Declares  the 
growth  and 
prosperity  of 
Israel 
(24  :  5-7) 


And  the  ex- 
altation of 
Israel'sking 
(24  :  7-9) 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 


The  Messages 


Balaam,  the 
seer,  who 
hath  visions 
from  God 
(24  :  15,  16) 


Declares 
that  the 
future  king 
shall  smite 
Moab  and 
Edom 
(24  :  17-19) 


From  Eg}^pt  God  has  brought  him  forth, 
Like  the  wild  ox,  such  is  his  strength. 

He  hostile  nations  shall  devour, 
He  shall  in  pieces  break  their  bones. 

He  couches  like  a  lion,  stoops 

Like  lioness.     Who  shall  him  rouse? 

(4)  The  Prophecy  of  Israel's  King  (Num.  24  :  15-19) 
Balaam,  the  son  of  Beor,  says, 
The  man  whose  eyes  are  closed  declares; 

He  says  who  hears  the  words  of  God, 
From  the  Most  High  his  knowledge  has; 

The  visions  of  the  Almighty  sees, 
And  prostrate,  opened  has  his  eyes: 

I  see  it,  but  it  is  not  now. 
Behold  it,  but  it  is  not  near: 

From  Jacob  there  comes  forth  a  star, 
A  sceptre  springs  from  Israel. 

All  Moab's  comers  it  w^ill  smite. 
And  break  down  all  the  sons  of  Seth. 


And  Edom  will  be  subject  land, 
The  remnant  perish  of  Seir. 
330 


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Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 


(5)  The  Prophecy  on  Amalek  {Num.  24  :  20) 

Amalek,  of  nations  first, 
His  end  is  sure  destruction. 

(6)  The  Prophecy  on  the  Kenite  {Num.  24  :  21,  22) 

Right  strong  is  thy  dwelling-place, 
Thy  nest  is  set  on  the  rock; 
Yet  wasted  shall  Cain  be. 
How  soon  captures  Ashur  thee? 

(7)  The  Prophecy  on  the  Amorite  {Num.  24  :  23,  24) 

Woe,  who  can  live  when  God  does  this? 
He  who  from  Cyprus  issued  forth, 
Afflicted  Asher,  Eber  smote; 
But  he  at  length  shall  perish,  too. 


Amalek, 
once  so 
powerful,  is 
aoomed 
(24  :  20) 


The  Kenite, 
so  apparent- 
ly secure, 
shall  be  de- 
vastated 
(24  :  21,  22) 


Even  the  re- 
sistless 
Amorite 
shall  suc- 
cumb 
(24  :  23,  24) 


2.  The  Notes 

For  "Aram"  we  should  probably  read  "Edom,"  in 
23  :  7,  d  having  been  mistaken  for  r.  This  is  suggested 
also  by  the  parallelism.  For  the  hills  of  Kedem  are  not  in 
Mesopotamia,  but  south  and  south-east  of  Moab.  Kedem 
is  the  Kedema  of  the  Senute  story.  In  24  :  7  the  Massoretic 
"Agag"  is  probably  to  be  preferred  to  the  "Gog"  of  most 
MSS.  of  the  Greek.  Gog  could  scarcely  have  been 
changed  to  Agag,  while  the  comparison  with  the  Amalekite 
king  may  have  seemed  insufficient  in  the  days  when  the 

331 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24  The  Messages 

king  of  Gog  who  became  "King  Gog,"  the  mighty  ruler 
in  Asia  Minor  and  Scythia,  possibly  Mithradates  of  Pontus 
(cp.  article  "  Scythians,"  in  Encydopcedia  Biblica),  appealed 
so  strongly  to  the  imagination.  The  reading  "Gog"  may 
be  secondary  even  in  the  Greek  version.  The  redundant 
third  Hne  in  verse  18:  "And  Israel  he  makes  strength" 
should  be  stricken  out  as  well  as  the  first  line  of  verse  19 
which  forms  with  it  the  interloping  distich;  and  the  second 
line  of  verse  19  is  more  original  than  its  copy,  the  second 
line  of  verse  18.  For  meir  we  should  read  misseir,  the  5 
having  fallen  out.  Whether  ashr  should  be  pronounced 
Asher  or  Ashur  in  verse  22  is  doubtful,  but  the  latter  is 
more  probable.  "And  seeing  Og,"  read  by  the  Greek 
translator  in  his  Hebrew  text  (vs.  23),  is  missing  in  the 
Massoretic  text,  having  been  overlooked  by  some  copyist. 
Probably  Og  had  already  been  substituted  for  "the  Am- 
orite."  In  verse  24  read  >'a.ya' ;  w  has  been  inadvertently 
repeated.  This  was  the  reading  the  Greek  translator  had 
before  him.  Whether  ashr  should  be  pronounced  Ashur 
or  Asher  is  again  uncertain,  though  the  latter  is  more  prob- 
able.   The  metre  is  different  in  the  different  oracles. 

3.  The  Exposition 

Seven  oracles  are  ascribed  to  Bala'am  ben  Beor.     Origi- 
nally, this  figure  was  probably  suggested  by  the  name  of  one 
of  the  Edomitish  kings,  Bela'  ben  Beor.     He  is  represented 
as  having  been  called  by  the  neighboring  king  of  IMoab, 
332 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 

Balak  ben  Zippor,  to  curse  Israel,  The  historic  situation 
is  forgotten  in  23  :  9b,  where  Israel  is  described  as  a  people 
dwelling  by  itself  and  not  like  any  other.  This  does  not 
apply  to  nomads  invading  the  settled  country,  but  to  a 
nation  that  has  long  been  established  and  shown  its  peculiar 
character.  The  second  oracle  emphasizes  the  unalterable- 
ness  of  the  divine  decree  revealed  to  Balaam,  which  cannot 
be  changed  by  any  unauthorized  spell  or  incantation.  The 
three  distichs  describing  the  prophet  at  the  beginning  of 
the  third  oracle  are  repeated  in  the  fourth.  In  the  picture 
of  Israel's  glorious  future,  the  king  is  not  wanting.  He 
is  to  be  greater  than  Agag.  It  is  significant  that  he  is 
the  Amalekite  king.  Not  Saul,  but  David,  put  an  end  to 
the  Amalekite  kingdom.  He  has  proven  himself  to  be  the 
greater  king.  David  is  also  the  star  that  comes  forth 
from  Jacob  in  due  time,  and  it  was  his  achievements  to 
smite  Moab  and  subdue  Edom.  Seth  probably  desig- 
nates the  original  inhabitants  of  Moab,  as  Seir  those  of 
Edom. 

The  oracle  on  Amalek  represents  this  people  as  the  first 
of  nations.  In  the  days  of  Saul  and  David  they  lived 
south  of  the  Negeb,  occupied  by  Philistines,  Jerahmeelites, 
and  Kenites,  and  were  dangerous  neighbors,  making  raids 
into  the  Negeb.  They  were  regarded  as  kinsmen  to  the 
Edomites.  While  the  Edomites  established  themselves  in 
Seir  and  subdued  the  Horites  there,  the  Amalekites  seem 
to  have  pushed  into  the  region  now  known  as  El  Tih. 

Z2,3 


Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24  The  Messages 

Possibly  they  preceded  the  JerahmeeHtes  and  the  Kenites 
as  well  as  the  Philistines,  even  in  the  Negeb.  The  memory 
of  their  long  period  of  power,  concerning  which  we  have 
no  information,  lived  fresh  in  the  mind  of  the  poet.  But 
the  kingdom  had  fallen  through  David. 

The  tribe  of  Qain  or  Cain,  the  Kenites,  lived  in  the  land 
of  Nod,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Negeb,  west  of  the  Arabah, 
where  Kenite  place-names  still  survive.  It  is  a  land  of  rocks 
and  mountains.  There  is  the  Har  Halak,  "the  slippery 
mountain,"  so  called  because  of  its  smooth,  brittle,  shaly 
stone  which  breaks  and  causes  the  foot  to  slip  as  one  as- 
cends it,  the  Moserah  where  Aaron  was  supposed  to  have 
died,  still  called  Jebel  Madhara.  There  were  the  Recha- 
bite  valleys  and  high  plateaus.  The  Kenites  had  for  their 
neighbors  at  one  time  on  the  south  and  south-west  the 
Ashurim,  the  Ashurites,  and  the  poet  seems  to  have  known 
how  ill  they  fared  at  their  hands.  It  is  a  curious  notion, 
suggested  by  no  Hebrew  record  or  cuneiform  inscription, 
that  the  Assyrians  invaded  these  rocky  fastnesses  and  car- 
ried the  Kenites  away  to  Nineveh,  showing  how  easily  and 
uncritically  modern  scribes  are  led  astray  by  the  similarity 
of  a  name,  just  as  the  scribes  of  earlier  days.  In  the  days 
of  David's  outlaw  life  the  Kenites  still  flourished  in  their 
part  of  the  Negeb  and  had  cities.  The  legend  knows  Cain 
as  a  city-builder  as  well  as  a  wanderer  and  vagabond. 
There  is  no  record  that  David  attempted  to  invade  their 
country.  The  weakening  of  Amalekite  power  probably 
334 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Numbers  23,  24 

gave  the  Ashurites  a  chance  to  waste  this  region  and  carry 
away  captives. 

Something  more  important  than  the  destruction  of  Am- 
alekites  and  Kenites  stirs  the  soul  of  the  prophet.  Who 
can  resist  the  divine  power  when  even  the  great  Amoritish 
kingdoms  must  succumb  ?  The  Amorites  had  swept  down 
from  the  north.  They  had  issued  forth  "from  the  sides 
of  Kittim  (Cyprus)."  The  phrase  is  obscure.  It  may 
possibly  mean  "from  the  sides,  i.  e.,  the  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  looking  toward,  opposite  Cyprus,"  or  it 
may  indicate  that  the  Amorite  had  invaded  Cyprus  and 
come  forth  from  there  to  turn  his  attention  in  another  direc- 
tion; or  there  may  have  been  a  tradition  to  the  effect  that 
he  had  ultimately  come  from  Cyprus,  as  the  Philistine  from 
Crete,  the  Aramaean  from  Kir,  and  the  Israelite  from 
Muzur  or  Egypt.  The  coupling  of  Amorites  with  Hittites 
as  foreigners,  in  Ezekiel,  the  persistent  connection  of  the 
Canaanites  with  the  Egyptians  and  other  Hamites,  or 
the  existence  of  some  distinctly  foreign  element  among  the 
Amorites  may  have  given  rise  to  such  a  tradition.  The 
Amorite  had  certainly  established  himself  in  the  north-west, 
where  we  find  him  in  the  period  of  Babylonian  and  Egyp- 
tian power  in  Syria.  From  his  northern  home  he  fell  upon 
the  southern  neighbors,  afflicted  the  Asherites,  who  are 
already  settled  in  the  days  of  Thothmes  III  (i 503-1447 
B.  C.)  in  the  territory  occupied  by  the  tribe  Asher,  and 
the  sons  of  Eber,  the  Hebrews  in  the  widest  sense,  the 
335 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43     The  Messages 

Habiri  of  the  El  Amarna  correspondence,  the  kindred 
tribes  and  clans  that  made  up  Israel,  Judah,  Edom,  Moab, 
and  Ammon,  Irr  the  East  Jordan  country  the  chief  repre- 
sentatives of  this  Amoritish  power  were  Og  of  Bashan 
and  Sihon  of  Heshbon.  But  the  Amorites,  like  the 
Canaanites,  were  subjected  by  David  and  Solomon, 
There  is  nothing  in  these  oracles  that  necessitates  a  later 
origin  than  the  latter  part  of  David's  reign  and  much  that 
points  to  this  period  as  the  time  of  composition.  The 
political  situation  seems  to  preclude  a  later  age,  while  the 
beauty  of  style,  the  strength  of  patriotic  feeling,  and  the 
depth  of  sentiment  generally  are  not  out  of  harmony  with 
a  period  that  produced  such  a  poet  as  David. 

XIX 

THE  SONG  OF  MOSES:    YAHWE's  JUST  DEALINGS  WITH 

ISRAEL 

(Deut.  32  :  1-43) 

I.  The  Translation 
Listen,  o  Give  ear,  O  heavens,  I  will  speak; 

earth,  to  my  Listen,  O  earth,  to  my  mouth's  words! 

word^Deut  ^^*  "^^  instruction  fall  like  rain, 

(32 : 1, 2)  And  like  the  dew  my  words  drop  down, 

Like  showers  on  the  tender  grass. 
Like  streams  upon  the  withered  herb. 


of  the  Poets        Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43 


For  Yahwe's  name  I  will  proclaim. 
O  give  ye  honor  to  our  God! 
A  rock  is  he,  perfect  his  work, 
For  all  his  ways  are  right  and  true: 
A  faithful  God,  in  nothing  false, 
He  ever  upright  is  and  just. 


Let  me  pro- 
claim the 
righteous 
acts  of 
Yahwe 
(32  :  3-7) 


When  the  Most  High  scattered  mankind, 
And  parted  wide  the  sons  of  men. 
And  fixed  for  nations  their  abodes. 
In  number  as  the  sons  of  God, 
On  Yahwe's  lot  fell  Israel, 
Jacob  became  his  heritage. 


To  Yahwe 
Israel  was  al- 
lotted as  his 
people 
(32:8,9) 


He  found  him  in  the  wilderness, 

A  desert  where  no  water  was; 

He  watched  him,  kept  him,  cared  for  him, 

As  for  the  apple  of  his  eye. 

As  eagle  that  stirs  up  her  nest, 

Flutters  and  soars  above  her  young, 


He  found 
Israel  in  the 
desert  and 
gave  him 
abundance 
of  all  things 
(32  :  10-14) 


He  spread  abroad  his  wings,  took  him, 
And  on  his  pinions  held  him  high; 
He  let  him  o'er  high  places  ride. 
And  let  him  eat  fruit  of  the  field; 
Let  him  suck  honey  from  the  clifif, 
And  oil  out  of  the  flinty  rock. 

337 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43     The  Messages 


Then  Israel 
forgot 
Yahwe 
(32  :  15-18) 

WTio  de- 
clared that 
he  would 
severely  pun- 
ish Israel, 
even  to  ex- 
tinction 
(32  :  19-26) 


Butter  of  kine,  and  milk  of  sheep, 
And  fat  he  had  of  lambs  and  rams, 
The  sons  of  Bashan  and  the  goats. 
Wheat,  and  the  blood  of  grapes,  the  wine. 
Thus  Jeshurun  waxed  fat  and  kicked, 
Forgot  the  God  who  had  him  made. 

Yahwe  saw  it,  and  cast  him  off, 
With  his  own  sons  and  daughters  wroth, 
Said:  "I  will  hide  my  face  from  them, 
And  see  what  then  the  end  will  be; 
For  they  a  froward  people  are, 
And  children  who  will  keep  no  faith. 


"They  angered  me  with  a  non-God, 
They  with  their  idols  me  provoked, 
I'll  anger  them  with  a  non-people, 
Provoke  them  through  a  foolish  folk. 
A  fire  is  kindled  in  my  wrath, 
And  burns  unto  the  lowest  hell. 


"I  will  heap  evils  upon  them. 
Will  upon  them  my  arrows  spend. 
Waste  them  with  hunger,  them  devour 
With  heat  and  bitter  pestilence; 
The  teeth  of  beasts  let  loose  on  them. 
Poison  of  snakes  that  crawl  in  dust. 


of  the  Poets         Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43 

"  Without,  the  sword  bereavement  brings, 
And  in  the  chambers  terror  reigns; 
Young  man  and  maiden  both  must  go, 
The  suckhng  and  the  gray-haired  man. 
I  said:   'I'll  scatter  them  afar, 
Make  them  forgotten  among  men.' 


"  But  I  the  enemy's  anger  feared. 
Lest  their  foes  falsely  take  it  up, 
Lest  they  say:  'Mighty  is  our  hand, 
And  Yahwe  has  not  done  all  this.' 
For  without  wit  this  people  is. 
No  understanding  is  in  them. 


But  fearing 
that  this  use 
of  divine 
power  be 
misunder- 
stood 
(32  :  27-36) 


"  For  their  vine  is  of  Sodom's  vine, 
And  of  Gomorrah's  fields  it  is: 
Their  grapes  are  very  bitter  grapes. 
Like  unto  gall  their  clusters  are; 
Poison  of  dragons  is  their  wine. 
The  cruel  venom  of  the  asp. 


"  Is  not  this  laid  in  store  with  me, 
And  in  my  treasuries  sealed  up. 
For  day  of  vengeance  and  of  wrath, 
When  their  foot  slips  and  they  fall  down  ? 
For  near  is  their  destruction's  day. 
And  quickly  comes  what  is  prepared." 

339 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43     The  Messages 

For  Yahwe  will  his  people  judge, 

Will  on  his  servants  mercy  have. 

When  he  sees  that  their  power  is  gone, 

And  none  remains,  shut  up  or  free. 

Then  shall  he  say:  "Where  are  their  gods, 

The  rock  to  which  they  refuge  took? 


Yahwe  wUl 
have  com- 
plete ven- 
geance on 
these  foes 
(32  :  37-42) 


"  They  ate  their  sacrifices  fat. 

And  drank  the  wine  that  they  poured  out. 

Let  them  rise  up  and  help  you  now. 

Let  them  your  firm  protection  be! 

For  I  to  heaven  raise  my  hand,  • 

And  swear,  'As  I  forever  live. 


" '  When  I  have  whet  my  glittering  sword. 
My  hand  the  judgment  has  begun, 
I  will  have  vengeance  on  my  foes, 
And  those  that  hate  me  recompense. 
With  blood  my  arrows  will  be  drunk. 
And  flesh  my  sword  shall  then  devour. 


Praise  to 
Him 
(32  :  43) 


"  '  With  blood  of  slain  and  captured  men. 
And  of  the  heads  of  hostile  chiefs.' " 
Ye  nations  all,  his  people  praise! 
His  servants'  blood  he  will  avenge. 
Take  vengeance  on  his  enemies. 
And  free  his  people's  land  from  guilt. 
340 


of  the  Poets         Minor  Poems— Deuteronomy  32  ;  1-43 

2.  The  Notes 

Verses  5-7  seem  to  be  an  interpolation.  In  verse  8  we 
should  read  with  the  Greek  version  "sons  of  God"  instead 
of  ''sons  of  Israel";  in  verse  9  strike  ''for"  and  substitute 
"Israel"  for  "his  people";  and  in  verse  11  read  "upon  his 
pinions."  Verse  12  interrupts  the  description  and  is 
clearly  a  marginal  gloss.  "Earth"  is  an  addition,  making 
the  line  too  long  in  verse  13a;  "thou  shalt  drink"  in  verse 
13b  and  the  second  line  in  verse  15,  as  seen  by  the  personal 
pronoun,  as  well  as  the  fourth  line,  are  also  additions. 
Verses  17  and  ,18  are  an  interpolation.  "And  he  said"  is 
added  in  verse  19,  correctly  so  far  as  the  sense  goes,  but 
making  the  line  too  long.  Verses  29-31  are  an  interpola- 
tion.    Verse  39  is  also  interpolated. 

3.  The  Exposition 

Heaven  and  earth  are  exhorted  to  listen  to  this  hymn  in 
praise  of  Yah  we  and  his  justice  in  dealing  with  Israel. 
Having  described  the  character  of  Yahwe,  it  adverts  to 
the  old  idea  that  Israel  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Yahwe  to 
guard  as  its  tutelary  deity  at  the  time  when  mankind  had 
been  scattered,  the  nations  had  been  assigned  their  abodes, 
and  each  had  been  intrusted  by  Elyon  to  its  particular  god. 
"The  sons  of  the  gods"  originally  meant  the  gods,  those 
who  belong  to  the  category  of  elohim.  The  gods  of  the 
nations  were  as  truly  gods  as  Yahwe,  whose  special  charge 
341 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43      The  Messages 

was  Israel.  Later  they  were  thought  of  as  "angels,"  and 
the  author  probably  was  unconscious  of  the  difficulty 
which  led  those  who  established  our  present  Hebrew  text 
to  change  *'God"  into  "Israel,"  with  the  curious  result  of 
creating  as  many  nations  as  there  were  members  of  the 
chosen  people.  Yahwe's  care  of  Israel  is  splendidly  com- 
pared with  that  of  an  eagle  of  her  young.  It  is  important 
to  notice  that  it  is  in  the  wilderness  Yahwe  finds  Israel. 
Bountifully  provided  for,  Jacob  grew  fat  and  kicked,  and 
forgot  Yahwe.  The  poet  looks  back  upon  the  rejection  of 
Israel  and  explains  its  cause.  They  had  angered  him  by 
worshipping  a  god  who  was  no  god  in  the  truest  sense  and 
by  bowing  before  idols.  Therefore  Yahwe  had  angered 
them  (5 :  21)  by  a  nation  that  was  not  a  nation  in  the  truest 
sense.  As  the  Assyrian  empire  was  not  a  real  nation,  so 
Baal  Melkarth,  or  whatever  god  the  poet  may  have  had 
in  mind,  was  not  a  real  god.  Yahwe  has  judged  his  people 
and  destroyed  Israel.  Thereby  he  has  avenged  his  ser- 
vants in  the  nation,  whose  blood  had  been  impiously  shed. 
His  justice  has  been  vindicated,  and  the  nations  are  ex- 
horted to  praise  him. 

It  is  evident  that  the  poet  has  behind  him  the  whole 
course  of  Israel's  history,  down  to  the  destruction  of  the 
kingdom,  in  723  B.  C,  and  that  he  has  been  thoroughly 
influenced  by  the  teaching  of  the  great  prophets.  His  allu- 
sions to  the  murder  of  Yahwe's  special  servants  in  the  nation 
render  it  possible  that  he  has  in  mind  the  conditions  of 
342 


of  the  Poets        Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  32  : 1-43 

Manasseh's  reign,  as  we  do  not  hear  of  the  killing  of  pro- 
phets before  that  time.  His  distinction  between  Yahwe  and 
gods  who  are  no  gods,  or  not  God,  as  well  as  his  apparent 
interpretation  of  "sons  of  God"  as  angels,  and  the  similarity 
of  his  thought  to  that  of  the  Deuteronomistic  writers,  seem 
to  indicate  a  later  time.  It  may  be  that  he  has  also  seen 
the  fall  of  Jerusalem  and  includes  in  Jacob  or  Israel  Judah 
as  well  as  the  northern  kingdom. 

4.  The  Value  of  the  Poem 

Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  historical  sweep 
of  this  choice  poem.  It  says  most  definitely  that  Yahwe 
found  Israel  in  the  desert  and  placed  the  people  in  an 
agricultural  environment.  This  was  a  step  upward  in 
civilization,  but  exposed  them  to  influences  which  tended 
to  make  a  step  downward  in  religion.  Prosperity  led  to 
idolatry  and  forced  Yahwe  to  punish  his  people  severely. 

As  a  poem  this  passage  takes  fine  rank.  Its  imagery  is 
expressive;  its  ideas  in  the  spirit  of  the  prophets.  It  is 
manifestly  not  such  an  utterance  as  Moses  could  have 
made,  for  it  reviews  the  history  of  the  nation  for  many 
centuries  subsequent  to  his  day,  but  it  is  worthy  of  the 
place  assigned  it. 


343 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  ^^  :  1-29     The  Messages 


XX 


Coming 
from  Sinai, 
at  Kadesh, 
Yah  we  spoke 
to  Israel 
(Deut.  33  : 
1-5) 


Let  Reuben 
be  spared 
(33  :  6) 


Give  Judah 
help 
(^3  :  7) 


THE   BLESSING   OF   MOSES:     ORACLES   ON   THE    TRIBES 
(Deut.  33  :  1-29) 

I.  The  Translation 

Yahwe  came  forth  from  Sinai, 
From  Seir  rose  unto  them, 
Shone  from  the  mount  of  Paran, 
Came  to  Meribath  Kadesh, 

Saved  by  his  arm  his  people, 
And  all  his  saints  by  his  hands. 
Then  at  his  feet  they  sat  down, 
And  to  his  words  they  listened. 

His  were  the  throngs  of  Jacob; 
King  was  he  in  Jeshurun, 
When  the  nation's  chiefs  were  gathered 
Israel's  tribes  together. 

(i)  Concerning  Reuben: 

Let  Reuben  live,  let  him  not  die, 
Or  few  in  number  be  his  men. 

(2)  Concerning  Jiidah : 

Harken,  Yahwe,  to  Judah's  voice. 
And  to  his  people  bring  him  in, 


of  the  Poets         Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  t,t,  :  1-29 


With  thine  own  hands  fight  thou  for  him, 
Against  his  foes  be  thou  his  help! 

(3)  Concerning  Levi: 

Thy  Thummim  and  thy  Urim 
Are  for  the  men  thou  lovest, 
Whom  thou  didst  prove  at  Massah, 
Try  at  Meribah's  waters, 

Of  father  said  and  mother, 
"I  know  them  not,  nor  brother!" 
Thy  word  they  have  accomphshed, 
Thy  covenant  remembered. 

They  teach  thy  rights  to  Jacob, 
Give  Israel  instruction; 
Bring  incense  in  thy  nostrils, 
Burnt  offerings  on  thy  altar. 

(4)  Concerning  Benjamin: 

Yahwe's  beloved  lives 
In  safety  by  his  side. 
He  watches  him  all  day. 
Between  his  shoulders  dwells. 

(5)  Concerning  Joseph: 

May  his  land  be  blest  by  Yahwe 
With  the  best  from  heaven  above, 


Let  Levi  be 
Israel's 
teacher  and 
priest 
(33  :  8-10) 


Let  Ben- 
jamin watch 
over  Yahwe's 
shrine 
{33,  ■•  12) 


May  Joseph 
be  blessed 
with  rich 
prosperity 
and  power 
(33  :  13-17) 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  ;^;^  :  1-29     The  Messages 


Zebulon  and 
Issachar 
shall  possess 
the  spoil  of 
the  sea 
(33  :  18,  19) 


Gad  shall 
make  him- 
self a  power 
(33  :  20,  21) 


The  best  that  the  sun  brings  forth, 
The  best  that  the  moons  produce, 

The  best  of  primeval  hills, 
Of  eternal  mountains  the  best. 
Of  the  earth  and  its  fulness  the  best. 
The  good-will  of  Sinai's  God! 

How  fine  is  his  first-born  bull! 
The  wild  ox's  horns  he  has. 
With  them  he  the  nations  gores, 
To  the  ends  of  the  earth  he  goes. 

(6,  7)  Concerning  Zebulon  (and  Issachar) : 

In  raids  rejoice,  O  Zebulon, 
And  in  thy  tents,  O  Issachar! 

They  to  their  mountain  nations  call; 
They  bring  right  sacrifices  there. 

The  riches  of  the  sea  they  suck. 
The  hidden  treasures  of  the  sand. 

(8)  Concerning  Gad: 
Blessed  be  Gad,  a  lion  like, 
He  couches,  tears  both  arm  and  head. 

He  chose  himself  the  best,  for  there 
A  ruler's  portion  was  reserved, 
346 


of  the  Poets        Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  7,2>  •  ^"^P 

Yet  with  the  chiefs  of  Jacob  came, 
To  carry  Yahwe's  justice  out. 


(9)  Concerning  Dan: 

Dan  is  a  lion's  whelp, 
From  Bashan  he  leaps  forth. 

(10)  Concerning  Naphtali: 

Sated  with  grace  is  Naphtali, 
Of  Yahwe's  blessings  he  is  full, 
Possesses  lake  and  Merom. 

(11)  Concerning  Asher: 

Blest  above  sons  is  Asher, 
His  foot  is  bathed  in  oil. 
Iron  and  brass  thy  bars  are, 
Thy  strength  is  as  thy  days. 

No  god  is  like  Jeshurun's, 
Riding  through  heaven  to  help  thee. 
The  God  of  old  thy  refuge, 
His  arms  beneath  thee  ever. 

He  drove  the  foe  before  thee; 
He  said  to  him:  "Destroy  now!" 
And  Israel  dwelt  in  safety, 
Secure  was  Jacob's  fountain. 

347 


Dan  shall 
foray  in 
Bashan 
(33  :  22) 


Naphtali 
shall  be 
happy  pos- 
sessing the 
sea  and  the 
upper  Jor- 
dan 
(.33  :  23) 

Asher  shall 
be  prospr- 
ous  and 
secure 
(33  :  24,  2s) 


Israel's  God 
is  incompar- 
able; he 
protects  and 
cares  for  his 
people 
(33  :  26-29) 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  ^;^  :  1-29     The  Messages 

In  land  of  corn  and  new  wine, 
Whose  heaven  drops  the  dew  down, 
Thou,  Israel,  art  happy. 
Saved  people,  who  is  like  thee? 

Yahwe  is  shield  that  helps  thee, 
Is  sword  that  gives  thee  glory. 
Thine  enemies  bow  to  thee, 
While  on  their  heights  thou  marchest. 

2.  The  Notes 

In  verse  2  "and"  has  been  added  at  the  beginning  of 
the  second  and  fourth  lines.  For  the  "holy  myriads"  we 
should  read  "Meribath  Kadesh."  With  the  Greek  version 
the  two  lines  "in  his  right  hand  there  was  the  fire  of  a  law 
for  him,  also  the  lover  of  nations,"  should  be  amended 
into  "he  saved  by  his  right  hand  his  people."  "Moses 
commanded  us  a  law"  is  a  marginal  gloss.  In  verse  9  "he 
did  not  know"  should  be  stricken  out  as  well  as  "his  sons 
he  did  not  know."  Verse  11  is  an  addition.  In  verse  16 
we  should  probably  read,  Sinai  for  seneh,  the  "bush,"  and 
strike  the  last  two  lines.  In  verse  17  "to"  gives  a  better 
sense  than  "together,"  and  is  supported  by  the  Greek; 
the  last  two  lines  are  redundant.  In  verse  20  "he  spreads 
himself"  is  an  addition;  for  "the  chiefs  of  the  people,"  we 
should  read  "with  the  chiefs  of  Jacob,"  and  "his  judgments 
with  Israel"  should  be  eliminated.  "Darom"  should  be 
348 


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changed  to  "Merom"  in  verse  23.  Naphtali  had  nothing 
to  do  with  "Darom"  or  "the  South";  it  possessed  the 
places  on  Lake  Merom,  the  modern  Huleh.  The  second 
line  in  verse  24  is  an  addition.  Strike  "in"  before  Yahwe, 
and  "which"  in  verse  29.  Metre  and  strophic  structure 
vary  in  the  oracles. 

3.  The  Exposition 

Verses  1-5  are  an  introduction  and  verses  26-29  ^.n 
epilogue  to  the  oracles  on  the  eleven  tribes.  The  first 
tetrastich  describes  the  progress  of  Yahwe  from  Sinai  to 
Meribath  Kadesh.  Sinai  seems  to  have  been  a  mountain 
in  the  land  of  Midian,  east  of  the  northern  end  of  the 
Aelanitic  Gulf.  It  was  counted  as  belonging  to  the  chain 
designated  as  Mount  Seir.  Hence  Sinai  is  also  repre- 
sented as  being  in  Edom's  land.  The  particular  peak  has 
not  been  identified.  Christian  tradition,  seeking  it  nearer 
Egypt,  has  moved  it  from  top  to  top  on  the  so-called  Sinaitic 
peninsula,  or  El  Tor.  Whether  it  has  survived  in  the 
nomenclature  of  the  region  between  El  Oela  and  Petra 
future  exploration  may  reveal.  It  was  preserved  by  the 
tribes  of  the  Negeb  and  Judah,  and  is  the  more  likely  to 
be  genuine  as  it  is  derived  from  the  name  of  the  moon -god, 
Sin.  Ephraimitish  stories  told  of  a  mountain  of  the  gods 
called  Horeb.  This  may  have  been  another  mountain  peak 
in  the  same  region.  There  are  indications  that  the  Judaic 
tradition  brought  Yahwe  through  the  "valley  of  Moses"  at 

349 


Minor  Poems — Deuteronomy  ^^  :  1-29     The  Messages 

Petra  down  to  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  the  high  plateau  of 
the  southern  Negeb,  and  to  Meribath  Kadesh.  This  name 
means  "the  Struggle  of  the  Devotee,"  and  is  probably 
connected  with  some  legend  concerning  the  famous  kadesh, 
or  devotee,  of  the  district,  Barnea.  The  place  is  probably 
the  modem  'Ain  Kderat,  the  fountain  par  excellence  in 
this  region;  "the  waters  of  Meribah"  are  then  the  fine 
stream  that  flows  down  from  this  fountain.  Here  Yahwe's 
people  sat  at  his  feet  and  Hstened  to  his  words.  He  was 
recognized  as  king  by  the  chiefs  of  Israel.  The  region 
around  Zin  (Jebel  'Araif),  Kadesh  Barnea  (possibly  *Ain 
Kdes),  and  Meribath  Kadesh  (probably  El  'Ain)  seems  to 
have  been  thought  of  as  the  place  where  the  Mosaic  oracles 
were  given  before  the  legislation  was  brought  back  to  Sinai 
in  the  land  of  Edom  or  Pisgah  in  the  land  of  Moab.  And 
some  of  the  oracles  ascribed  to  Moses  were  descriptions  of 
the  tribes  and  their  future.  When  the  real  author  lived, 
Reuben  seemed  in  danger  of  extinction,  Judah  fought  alone 
against  its  enemies  and  was  not  connected  with  the  other 
tribes,  Simeon  had  ceased  to  be  a  tribe,  Levi  was  a  priestly 
caste,  Yahwe  had  his  home  in  Benjamin,  Joseph  was 
richly  blessed  and  powerful,  Zebulon  and  Issachar  had  a 
sanctuary  on  a  holy  mountain  and  reached  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean, Dan  lived  in  the  north-east,  Naphtali  possessed 
the  shores  of  the  lakes  of  Galilee  and  Merom,  Asher  had 
long  defended  its  rich  territory,  the  whole  kingdom  of 
Israel  was  prosperous  and  victorious  over  its  enemies. 
350 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Joshua  6  :  26 

The  situation  is  clearly  that  of  the  northern  kingdom  be- 
tween Jeroboam  I  and  Jeroboam  II,  and  the  poet  a  citizen 
of  this  kingdom.  It  is  important  to  observe  that  he  knows 
the  Levites  as  oracle-givers  and  offerers  of  sacrifices,  ap- 
parently chosen  for  this  ofhce  because  of  their  faithfulness 
when  Yahwe  tried  them  at  Massah  or  Meribah's  waters, 
whatever  this  trial  may  have  been,  and  that  he  regards  as 
proper  the  sacrifices  on  the  holy  mountain  in  the  territory 
of  Zebulon  and  Issachar,  whether  this  be  Tabor  or  Carmel. 


XXI 

THE  CURSE   OF  JERICHO 
(Josh.  6  :  26) 

I.  The  Translation 

Cursed  be  the  man  before  Yahwe 
Who  rises  up  and  builds  this  town! 

2  The  Exposition 

After  Jericho,  which  had  existed  in  the  Canaanitish 
period,  as  is  now  known  from  the  excavations  carried  on 
by  the  Germans,  had  been  destroyed,  it  lay  in  ruins  for  a 
long  time.  This  in  itself  showed  that  a  curse  rested  on  the 
place.  When  it  was  finally  rebuilt,  the  custom  of  offering 
one  or  more  children  to  secure  the  success  of  the  enterprise 

351 


Minor  Poems — Joshua  lo  :  12b,  13  The  Messages 

and  the  removal  of  the  curse  was  followed.  Whether  or 
not  the  new  city  existed  for  any  length  of  time,  this  was 
probably  felt  to  be  a  sign  that  the  curse  continued,  and  led 
to  this  saying  ascribed  in  later  times  to  Joshua. 


XXII 

THE  COMMAND  TO  THE  SUN  AND  THE  MOON 
(Josh.  10  :  12b,  13) 

I.  The  Translation 

"Sun,  stand  thou  still  in  Gibeon, 
Moon,  in  the  vale  of  Aiyalon!" 
The  sun  stood  still  and  the  moon  stayed, 
Till  vengeance  on  their  foes  they  took. 

2.  The  Exposition 

This  song  was  introduced  in  the  narrative  from  the  col- 
lection known  as  "The  Book  of  Jashar,"  or  "The  Book  of 
the  Brave."  We  do  not  know  what  its  connection  was  in 
the  song-book,  but  it  is  altogether  probable  that  it  described 
an  incident  of  the  batde  of  Gibeon  against  the  Amorites.  It 
is  more  doubtful  whether  the  command  came  from  Joshua. 
The  words  may  have  been  originally  uttered  by  Yahwe, 
exhorting  the  two  celestial  powers  to  aid  in  the  pursuit  of 
352 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Joshua  lo  :  12b,  13 

the  enemy.  They  are  addressed  as  beings  who  can  listen 
and  stay  their  course,  if  they  will.  Their  acquiescence  re- 
sulted in  the  unique  spectacle  of  the  sun  standing  still  over 
Gibeon  and  the  moon  over  the  valley  of  Aiyalon  until  the 
people  could  wreak  complete  vengeance  on  their  foes. 
The  poet  no  doubt  lived  at  a  time  when  the  battle  was  still 
in  fresh  memory,  but  long  enough  after  it  for  a  story  to 
have  developed  that  the  day  had  been  miraculously  pro- 
longed. He,  of  course,  was  not  troubled  by  any  considera- 
tions as  to  what  would  have  happened  to  the  universe  and 
the  pursuing  Israelites,  if  the  sun  and  the  moon  had  actually 
stood  still,  or  whether  the  killing  of  a  few  more  Amorites 
would  have  justified  an  interference  entailing  consequences 
of  incalculable  cosmic  significance.  The  gods  could  do 
what  they  pleased.  Nor  was  the  prose-writer  who  copied 
the  lines  aware  of  any  such  difficulties,  or  any  necessity  for 
apologetic  devices.  He  realized  more  fully  than  the  poet 
that  this  was  a  most  extraordinary  event;  there  had  never 
been  any  day  like  it.  But  he  marvelled  chiefly  that  a  man 
could  thus  command  the  sun  and  the  moon,  and  that 
Yahwe  would  graciously  listen  to  a  request  put  in  that  form. 
But  Yahwe  had  always  been  good  to  Israel.  It  is  not  for 
modern  men  to  question  the  value  of  this  naive  faith,  nor 
to  reason  it  away  by  clumsy  rationalistic  explanations.  If 
the  sun  and  the  moon  had  not  seemed  to  many  interpreters 
so  much  more  important  than  the  stars,  the  statement  of 
Deborah  that  the  stars  fought  in  their  courses  against 
353 


Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 


The  Messages 


Sisera  would  probably  have  given  rise  to  similar  attempts 
to  rob  a  text,  beautiful  in  its  simplicity  and  valuable  in  its 
historic  place,  of  its  natural  meaning. 


XXIII 


Let  me  sing 
in  praise  of 
Yahwe ! 
(Judges 
5  :2,3) 


In  earth- 
quake and 
storm,  Thou 
camest  from 
Edom 
(S  :  4,  S) 


When  De- 
borah arose 
to  meet  the 
need  of  her 
people 
(5  :  6-8) 


THE   SONG   OF   DEBORAH 
(Judges  5  :  2-31) 

I.  The  Translation 

When  in  Israel  firstlings  are  brought, 
When  the  people  of  Yahwe  bring  gifts, 
Unto  Yahwe  will  I  sing  a  song. 
Unto  Israel's  God  will  I  sing. 

Yahwe,  when  thou  camest  from  Seir, 
When  thou  marchedst  from  Edom's  land, 
Earth  trembled,  the  heavens  dropped  rain, 
In  thy  presence  the  mountains  streamed. 

In  the  days  of  Shamgar  ben  Anath, 
Ere  the  days  of  Jael  came. 
Wayfarers  abandoned  the  paths. 
Men  travelled  by  roundabout  roads. 

Open  regions  in  Israel  ceased, 
Hamlet  dwellers  no  longer  were  found, 
354 


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Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 


Till  the  time  when  I,  Deborah,  rose, 
I,  a  mother  in  Israel,  rose. 

At  the  new  moons  the  gods  lacked  food, 
For  they  had  no  barley  bread. 
Nor  a  shield  was  seen  nor  a  spear 
Among  Israel's  forty  thousand. 

Of  Israel's  rulers  I  think, 
Of  the  nobles  in  Yahwe's  people. 
They  rode  upon  beautiful  asses, 
And  sat  upon  lions'  skins. 

They  walked  on  the  way  and  sang 
To  the  sound  of  the  piper's  notes. 
There  they  told  of  the  deeds  of  Yahwe, 
When  his  people  came  down  'gainst  the  towns. 


The  rulers 
began to  take 
counsel  to- 
gether and 
encourage 
one  another 
(5  :  9-11) 


Rise  up,  O  Deborah,  rise. 
Arise,  sing  a  song,  arise! 
Up,  Barak,  and  prisoners  take. 
Take  thy  captives,  Abinoam's  son! 


They  called 
upon  De- 
borah and 
Barak  to 
take  the  lead 
(5  :  12) 


Then  like  heroes  the  people  came  down, 
Yahwe's  people  came  down  like  men. 
From  Ephraim  princes  came. 
After  them  Benjamin  and  his  clans. 

355 


The  peop'e 

responded 

from  six 

tribes 

(5  :  i3-i5a) 


Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 


The  Messages 


Four  of  the 
tribes  re- 
fused to  help 
(S  :  I5b-i8) 


The  battle 
raged  near 
Megiddo; 
the  very 
heavens  op- 
posed Sisera, 
the  Canaan- 
itish  general; 
the  river 
Kishon  ran 
with  blood 
(5  :  19-22) 


Truncheon -bearers  from  Machir  came, 
And  from  Zebulon  chiefs  of  the  tribe; 
With  Deborah  Issachar's  princes, 
And  from  Naphtali  Barak's  clan. 

In  the  valley  they  followed  his  steps; 
As  he  led  them,  his  people  rushed  down. 
By  the  water-courses  of  Reuben, 
The  searchings  of  heart  were  great; 

He  sat  quiet  between  the  ash-heaps. 

To  list  to  the  call  of  the  flocks. 

Gilead  remained  beyond  Jordan, 

Dan  stayed  where  the  stream  breaks  forth. 

Asher  sought  protection  in  ships; 
He  dwells  on  the  shore  of  the  sea. 
Zebulon  poured  his  soul  out  to  death. 
Naphtali  on  the  fields  of  the  heights. 

To  the  battle  the  kings  came  down; 
Then  the  kings  of  Canaan  fought. 
At  Taanach,  by  Megiddo's  waters 
No  booty  of  silver  they  took. 

From  heaven  the  stars  were  fighting, 
From  their  courses  with  Sisera. 
The  Kishon  swept  them  away, 
Full  of  blood  was  the  river  Kishon. 

356 


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Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 


Trodden  down  were  the  strongest  of  men, 
Battered  by  the  horses'  hoofs, 
By  the  galloping  of  the  steeds. 
As  they  galloped  over  the  heights. 

"Hurl  a  curse  on  Meroz!"  says  Yahwe, 
"Curse  ye  bitterly  those  who  dwell  there!" 
For  they  came  not  to  Yahwe's  aid. 
To  the  help  of  Yahwe  like  men. 

Above  women  blessed  is  Jael, 
Above  women  that  dwell  in  tents. 
He  asked  water,  she  gave  him  milk, 
In  a  bowl  she  reached  him  curds. 

Her  hand  she  stretched  out  to  the  tent-pin. 
With  her  right  hand  the  hammer  she  seized; 
Then  his  head  she  hammers  and  crushes, 
She  smites  through  his  temple,  destroys  it. 

He  bends  down  at  her  feet  and  falls, 
He  lies  there  between  her  feet. 
In  the  place  where  Sisera  fell, 
There  he  lies  bereft  of  life. 


A  curse  upon 
faithless 
Meroz ! 
(5  :  23) 


Blessed  be 
Jael,  who 
had  the 
courage  to 
kill  the  un- 
thinking 
Sisera  as  he 
drank 
(52  :  24,  27) 


At  the  window  she  eagerly  looks, 
At  the  lattice,  Sisera's  mother. 
Why  is  his  chariot  so  slow? 
Why  tarry  the  feet  of  his  horses? 


In  vain  does 

his  mother 

watch  for  his 

return  with 

spoil 

(5  ;  28-30) 


Minor  Poems — Judges  5  : 2-31  The  Messages 

A  princess  wisely  gives  answer, 
She  answers  the  question  herself: 
''They  are  finding,  distributing  booty, 
A  wench  or  two  for  each  man; 

"  A  booty  of  dyed  stuff  for  Sisera, 
An  embroidered  piece  for  his  queen." 

So  may  Thus  perish  thine  enemies.  Yah  we! 

enemies  Thosc  that  lovc  thee  shall  rise  like  the  sun. 

perish ! 

2.  The  Notes 

In  verse  2  strike  "bless  ye,"  and  in  verse  3  the  first  line; 
Deborah  is  not  singing  to  kings,  and  there  should  not  be 
five  fines  in  the  stanza.  Sedeh  means  "mountain,"  "high 
plateau,"  as  well  as  "field."  Drop  "also  "before  "heavens" 
in  verse  4.  The  last  line  of  the  second  tetrastich  is  found 
in  verse  5,  where  "in  thy  presence"  should  be  substituted 
for  "in  the  presence  of  Yahwe."  This  line  takes  the  place 
of  verse  4d,  "also  the  clouds  dropped  water,"  an  obvious 
gloss.  Another  interpolation  is  the  long  line:  "This  Sinai 
from  the  presence  of  Yahwe,  the  God  of  Israel."  In  verse 
6b  read  liphene  "before,"  instead  of  be  "in."  In  verse  6 
strike  weholeke.  The  subject  of  the  second  "ceased," 
"hamlet-dwellers,"  has  fallen  out  in  the  next  verse.  Insert 
"in"  before  "new  moons,"  and  for  "then"  read  'en  lahem, 
overlooked  because  of  its  similarity  to  lehem,  "there  was  not 
for  them."     "My  heart  belongs  to"  means  "I  think  of" 

358 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 

in  verse  9;  "bless  ye"  should  go  out.  The  last  two  words 
of  the  first  line  in  verse  11  are  redundant,  as  well  as  the 
explanatory  gloss  "the  righteous  deeds  of  his  villagers  in 
Israel,"  and  for  "then  they  came  down"  read  yarad  "he 
came  down."  In  verse  13  drop  sarid;  in  verse  14  read 
sarim  "princes,"  for  sharsham,  "their  root."  Drop  "Am- 
alek"  and  at  the  end  of  the  verse  "scribe."  In  verse 
15b  read  "in  Naphtali"  for  "Issachar,"  and  "kenat," 
"clan"  for  ken  "so."  Barak  belonged  to  Naphtali.  In 
15c  read  yarad  for  shalah,  and  restore  with  the  aid  of 
the  Greek  i5d  he  Barak  shullah  ammo,  "  by  Barak  his 
people  was  sent,  i.  e.,  led."  For  "why  didst  thou  sit" 
read  "he  sat"  in  verse  16;  1 6c  is  a  dittograph.  Verse  lyd 
has  been  misplaced;  it  should  follow  17a,  and  read  shakan 
Dan  '  at  miphrasau,  or,  striking  shakan,  Dan  '  al  miphrasau 
yishkon.  The  next  line  then  becomes:  "Asher  is  pro- 
tected in  ships."  "People"  should  be  removed  in  verse  18. 
Strike  the  second  "they  fought"  in  verse  20;  and  in  verse 
21  read  middamim  for  nahal  kedumim,  and  nidreku  for 
tidreki.  The  "souls  of  strength"  are  "strong  men." 
Point  halemu  as  a  passive,  and  supply  at  the  end  "'a/e 
sadeh^'  or  'al  bamoth.  Remove  the  "angel"  in  verse  23  as 
a  dogmatic  interpolation  spoiling  the  line.  "The  wife  of 
Heber,  the  Kenite,"  has  been  inserted  in  verse  24  from  the 
prose  narrative.  "The  nobles"  should  be  removed  in 
verse  25.  "Sisera"  has  been  inserted  in  26c  in  the  wrong 
place;  the  name  belongs  to  27c.  The  second  "he  bent, 
359 


Minor  Poems— Judges  5:2-31  The  Messages 

he  fell,"  is  a  dittograph.  The  first  word  of  verse  23  should 
be  pointed  as  a  singular.  The  second  ** booty  of  dyed 
stuffs  "  is  a  dittograph.  Read  rikmah  rikmathain  lesawd'ro 
and  strike  the  rest  in  the  last  line  of  verse  30.  "Yahwe" 
and  "in  its  power"  have  been  added  in  verse  31. 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  ode  was  apparently  sung  by  Deborah  at  the  annual 
festival  following  the  victory.  At  that  time  firstlings  were 
offered  to  Yahwe  and  the  people  presented  their  gifts. 
Yahwe  came  to  the  battle,  she  sang,  from  Mount  Seir, 
from  the  land  of  Edom,  his  home,  and  his  coming  was  at- 
tended by  earthquake,  storm,  and  rain.  Shamgar  ben 
Anath  has  a  foreign  name  and  may  have  been  an  oppressor. 
It  was  not  safe  in  his  time  to  follow  the  ordinary  paths  or 
to  live  in  open  villages.  So  it  was  until  the  days  of  Jael, 
the  woman  whose  praise  the  song  celebrates,  and  through 
whom  the  final  deliverance  came,  and  until  Deborah  rose 
as  a  mother  in  Israel,  stirring  the  tribes  to  action.  No 
offerings  could  be  made  to  the  gods  in  the  new  moons;  for 
it  was  not  possible  to  cultivate  the  fields,  and  consequently 
there  was  no  barley  bread  to  place  on  their  altars;  and  the 
people  could  not  defend  itself.  Though  there  were  forty 
thousand  men  who  might  have  borne  arms,  one  never  saw  a 
shield  or  a  spear.  Then  a  change  came  over  the  nobles. 
They  began  to  ride  about  on  their  fine  asses,  hold  counsel 
360 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — Judges  5  :  2-31 

together,  or  march  on  roads  singing  songs  of  victories  won  by 
Yahwe  when  his  people  first  came  down  against  the  Canaan- 
itish  and  Amoritish  cities.  They  wanted  to  hear  the  stir- 
ring songs  of  the  seeress;  they  wanted  Barak,  Abinoam's 
son,  to  be  the  leader;  and  the  people  of  Yahwe  came  down 
like  heroes  from  six  tribes,  Ephraim,  Machir-Manasseh,  and 
Benjamin  on  the  south,  Zebulon,  Issachar,  and  Naphtali 
on  the  north.  There  were  others  that  should  have  listened 
to  the  summons,  like  Reuben,  Gilead-Gad,  Dan  and  Asher. 
But  they  did  not  come.  The  kings  of  Canaan  came  from 
their  strongholds  and  fought  under  the  leadership  of  Sisera. 
It  was  supposed  at  one  time  that  Sisera  was  a  Hittite;  his 
name  reminded  of  Hetasira.  But  we  now  know  that  this 
king's  name  was  Hattushillu.  Sisera  was  probably  a 
Canaanite.  The  battle  raged  in  dead  earnest  near  Taanach 
and  Megiddo.  There  was  not  time  to  take  booty.  The 
stars  themselves  took  part  in  the  mighty  struggle,  the 
planetary  gods  descended  to  fight  with  Sisera,  and  the  r-iver 
Kishon  ran  with  blood.  The  corpses  of  dead  warriors  were 
trodden  down  by  the  horses  that  galloped  away  from  the 
fray.  Yahwe  hurls  a  curse  on  Meroz,  an  unknown  town  in 
the  neighborhood,  that  should  have  come  to  his  assistance. 
It  was  a  woman  who  had  roused  the  people;  it  was  a 
woman  who  brought  about  the  final  victory.  Blessed 
above  women  be  Jael!  When  Sisera  came  to  her  tent  and 
asked  for  water,  she  gave  him  milk  in  a  bowl,  and  then 
smote  him  dead  with  the  tent-pin.  In  vain  did  Sisera's 
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The  Messages 


mother  look  for  his  return,  laden  with  booty.  He  had 
perished,  and  so  may  all  Yahwe's  enemies  perish!  The 
song  was  probably  composed  in  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth 
century  B.C.,  though  it  may  have  been  written  down  much 
later. 

XXIV 

THE   SONG   OF   HANNA:     YAHWE,   THE   DELIVERER 
(i  Sam.  2  :  i-io) 

I.  The  Translation 


I  rejoice  in 

Yahwe's 

help 

(i  Sam.  2  :  i) 


My  heart  is  glad  through  Yahwe, 
My  horn  raised  up  by  my  God, 
My  mouth  o'er  my  foe  is  wide. 
In  thy  prompt  help  I  rejoice. 


Yahwe  is  in- 
comparable 
for  holiness 
and  wisdom 
(2  :  2-4) 


No  holy  one  like  Yahwe, 
No  rock  like  our  God,  there  is. 
Speak  not  presumptuous  words, 
Let  no  pride  come  from  your  mouth. 


Yahwe  is  a  God  who  knows, 
A  God  who  can  weigh  men's  deeds. 
The  bow  of  the  strong  is  crushed. 
The  weak  are  girded  with  strength. 
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The  rich  hire  themselves  for  bread, 
Their  task -work  the  hungry  cease. 
Seven  children  the  barren  has, 
One  many  had,  mourns  them  all. 

Yahwe  puts  to  death,  gives  life, 
Leads  down  to  the  grave  and  up, 
Yahwe  makes  poor  and  gives  wealth, 
Brings  low  and  sets  men  on  high, 

The  needy  lifts  from  the  dust. 
From  dung-hill  raises  the  poor. 
To  place  him  with  noble  chiefs. 
To  lead  him  to  honor's  seat. 

The  stays  of  the  earth  are  his. 
The  world  he  has  set  on  them. 
The  feet  of  his  friends  he  keeps. 
The  wicked  in  darkness  stay. 

Man's  own  power  gives  no  strength, 
Yahwe  can  scatter  his  foes, 
To  heaven  ascend  and  thunder. 
And  judge  the  ends  of  the  earth. 


He  awards 
many  re- 
versals of 
fortune 
(2  :  5-8) 


Those  who 
trust  in  Him 
he  guides 
(2  :  9,  10) 


2.  The  Exposition 

This  hymn  was  probably  inserted  in  its  present  place 
and  put  upon  the  lips  of  Hanna  because  of  the  allusion  to 


Minor  Poems — 2  Samuel  i  :  18-27  The  Messages 

the  barren  woman  who  has  seven  children.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  the  occasion  for  writing  was  a  victory  over 
enemies,  and  it  is  most  probable  that  the  poet  speaks  in  the 
name  of  Yahwe's  people.  The  change  that  has  been 
brought  about  through  Yahwe's  deliverance  leads  him  to 
dwell  on  the  reversals  of  fortune  which  characterize  in  gen- 
eral his  dealings  with  men.  That  he  leads  down  to  Sheol 
and  brings  back  again  means  that  he  carries  a  man  to 
death's  door  and  then  restores  his  health  to  him.  The 
psalm  may  be  as  late  as  the  Maccabaean  period. 


XXV 

David's  lament  over  saul  and  Jonathan 

(2  Sam.  I  :  18-27) 

I.  The  Translation 


Weep,  O 
Judah, over 
the  sad  fate 
of  Israel's 
heroes 
(2  Sam. 
I  :  i8-2i) 


Shed  tears,  O  Judah,  lament 
The  sad  fate  of  Israel's  pride! 
Thy  heights  are  covered  with  slain. 
Alas,  how  the  mighty  are  fallen! 


Let  it  not  be  told  in  Gath, 
Nor  proclaimed  in  Ashkelon's  streets, 
Lest  Philistine  cities  rejoice, 
The  uncircumcised  exult. 
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O  Gilboa's  mounts,  let  no  dew, 
Nor  rain  ever  fall  upon  you. 
Ye  high  spreading  fields  of  death, 
Where  disgraced  was  the  hero's  shield! 

No  oil  wet  the  shield  of  Saul, 
But  the  blood  and  the  gore  of  the  slain. 
Never  Jonathan's  bow  came  back. 
Nor  the  sword  of  Saul,  without  spoil. 

Saul  and  Jonathan,  pleasant,  beloved, 
Nor  in  life  nor  in  death  were  parted. 
They  were  swifter  far  than  eagles, 
They  were  stronger  than  lions  both. 

O  women  of  Israel,  weep. 
Lament  ye  the  sad  fate  of  Saul! 
He  gave  you  scarlet  and  linen, 
Put  jewels  of  gold  on  your  dress. 

0  how  are  the  heroes  fallen! 
They  fell  on  the  field  of  death. 
On  the  hills  lies  Jonathan  slain. 

1  am  grieved  for  thee,  O  my  brother! 

My  delight  and  rapture  wert  thou, 
Thy  love  was  sweeter  than  woman's. 
O  how  are  the  mighty  fallen! 
The  sons  of  war  have  perished. 


Saul  and 
Jonathan 
were  notable 
warriors 
(i  :  22,  23) 


O  women  of 
Israel,  Saul 
brought  you 
much  spoil 
(I  :  24) 


O  heroic 
Jonathan, 
how  precious 
to  me  was 
thy  love 
(i  :  25-27) 


Minor  Poems — 2  Samuel  i  :  18-27  The  Messages 

2.  The  Notes 

For  "teach"  and  "sons"  read  "lament"  and  "weep," 
and  for  "bow"  the  "hard  thing,"  the  "sad  fate."  The 
"daughters  of  the  Philistines"  are  the  Philistine  towns. 
In  verse  21  read  moth,  "death,"  for  terumoth;  the  word 
"pleasant"  may  be  an  addition  in  verse  23.  "Thy,"  in 
the  last  line  of  verse  25,  and  "Jonathan,"  in  the  first  line 
of  verse  26,  are  redundant. 

3.  The  Exposition 

There  is  absolutely  no  reason  for  doubting  that  this  ex- 
quisite elegy  comes  from  the  heart  and  lips  of  David.  It 
needs  scarcely  any  word  of  comment.  The  hero's  shield 
is  disgraced  when  it  cannot  protect  him.  It  was  left  on 
the  battle-field  covered  with  blood  and  gore,  the  evidences 
of  Saul's  bravery  and  the  fierceness  of  the  struggle;  it  was 
not  brought  home  to  be  cleaned  with  oil.  This  was  the 
first  time  that  the  bow  of  Jonathan  and  the  sword  of  Saul 
did  not  return  with  the  booty  taken.  As  they  had  lived 
together  in  love,  so  they  died  together.  There  would  be 
no  more  presents  for  the  women  of  scarlet  and  linen  and 
golden  trinkets  from  the  generous  hands  of  Saul.  Jona- 
than had  been  a  brother  to  David,  whether  there  was  a 
formal  covenant  between  them  or  not.  The  love  of  woman, 
dear  as  it  was  to  David,  had  never  brought  him  the  delight 
366 


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and  rapture  which  fellowship  with  Jonathan  gave.  This 
song  was  probably  sung  ca.  1033  B.  C,  and  found  a  place 
in  the  collection  called  "The  Book  of  the  Brave." 

XXVI 

David's  lament  over  abner 

(2  Sam.  3  :  2>2>,  34) 

I.  The  Translation 

Has  Abner  died  as  Nabal  died? 
Thy  hands  are  not  in  fetters  bound, 
Thy  feet  are  not  in  brazen  chains. 
Through  sons  of  violence  thou  hast  fallen. 

2.  The  Notes 

The  word  ^uggashu  "are  bound"  belongs  to  the  second 
line  and  has  by  a  mistake  been  added  to  the  next  line. 
Before  "brazen  chains"  read,  with  the  Greek  version,  "in" 
and  not  "to."  The  words  "like  Nabal"  or  "as  one  falls" 
in  the  fourth  line  should  be  stricken  out.  In  the  first  line 
the  reference  is  to  Nabal  as  the  Greek  translator  saw. 

3.  The  Exposition 

No  serious  objection  to  Davidic  authorship  can  be 
urged.  David  recognized  that  Abner's  death  would  pave 
the  way  to  Ishbaal's  kingdom  quite  as  effectively  as  the 

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success  of  his  secret  arrangement  to  betray  his  master.  It 
would  have  the  same  result  that  Nabal's  death  had  had  by 
which  he  became  ruler  of  the  Calebites  in  Hebron.  With- 
out insulting  the  dead  chief  with  whom  he  had  had  negotia- 
tions, he  could  compare  him  with  the  former  husband  of  his 
wife  Abigail,  who  had  been  a  great  man  in  his  time,  leaving 
it  to  his  listeners,  if  they  chose,  to  reflect  upon  the  meaning 
of  the  name  which  happened  to  suggest  a  "fool."  He  had 
evidently  not  been  captured  as  a  prisoner,  since  his  hands 
and  feet  were  not  bound,  but  must  have  fallen  through 
highwaymen.  He  purposely  used  the  plural.  He  prob- 
ably knew  that  Joab  had  murdered  him,  but  it  was  not 
politic  to  point  to  his  great  general  as  the  assassin.  The 
jury  found  that  he  had  come  to  his  death  through  violence, 
and  the  matter  was  allowed  to  rest  with  this  verdict,  which 
Joab,  no  doubt,  understood  perfecdy.  The  lament  was 
probably  spoken  seven  years  later  than  that  over  Saul  and 
Jonathan. 


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XXVII 

THE  LAST  WORDS  OF  DAVID:    GOD  BLESSES  THE 

RIGHTEOUS   RULER 

(2  Sam.  23  :  1-7) 


I.  The  Translation 

Says  David,  son  of  Jesse, 
The  man  who  was  exalted, 
Of  Jacob's  God  anointed, 
And  Israel's  sweet  singer: 

"Through  me  spoke  Yahwe's  spirit, 
His  word  upon  my  tongue  was; 
Thus  spoke  the  God  of  Jacob, 
To  me  said  Israel's  rock: 


Through 
David,  the 
sweet  singer 
of  Israel, 
Yahwe  hath 
spoken 
(2  Sam. 
23  : i-3a) 


"'Who  rules  mankind  in  justice. 
Who  in  the  fear  of  God  reigns, 
Is  like  the  light  that  breaks  forth, 
The  sun  on  cloudless  morning.' 


A  just  ruler 
brings  happi- 
ness 
(23  :  3b-4) 


"  Is  not  my  house  with  God  so  ? 
He  made  with  me  a  covenant, 
His  watchcare  has  preserved  me. 
What  I  wished  has  succeeded. 
369 


God  has 
greatly 
blessed  my 
reign 
(23  :  5) 


Minor  Poems — 2  Samuel  23  : 1-7  The  Messages 

He  deals  "  Like  thorns  the  bad  are  cast  off, 

the  wicked  They  are  not  led  by  his  hand. 

^^^  '  *^'  ^^  Who  touches  them  must  armed  be, 

With  spear  of  wood  and  iron." 

2.  The  Notes 

Strike  out  "and  says"  and  read  "singer"  instead  of 
"songs"  in  verse  i;  remove  the  excessive  last  line  of  verse  4, 
"for  all  my  deliverance,"  and  "for  not"  in  verse  5,  the  last 
word  of  the  first  line  in  verse  6,  and  the  last  line  of  verse  7. 

3.  The  Exposition 

It  is  evident  from  the  first  stanza  that  this  oracle  cannot 
have  come  from  David.  The  third  stanza  also  shows  that 
the  author  looks  back  upon  David  as  the  ideal  king.  The 
next  tetrastich  indicates  that  the  house  of  David,  the 
Davidic  dynasty,  has  had  a  long  and  prosperous  existence, 
as  he  hoped,  and  this  longevity  is  felt  to  be  due  to  a  cove- 
nant, a  promise  given  by  Yahwe  to  the  founder.  It  is  only 
a  good  dynasty  that  can  thus  prosper.  For  wicked  rulers 
are  not  led  by  Yahwe's  hand.  They  depend  upon  their 
martial  prowess,  but  may  be  overthrown  by  greater  military 
power.  In  reality,  they  are  rejected  and  cast  off  by  Yahwe, 
while  David's  house  flourishes.  The  poet  has  manifestly 
been  influenced  by  the  teaching  of  the  great  pre-exilic 
prophets.  He  lives  under  a  good  king  of  the  Davidic  line, 
after  the  fall  of  Samaria,  perhaps  Hezekiah  or  Josiah. 

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XXVIII 

Solomon's  temple  dedication 

(l  Kings  8:12,  13) 

I.  The  Translation 

In  heaven  Shemesh  is  established, 
Yahwe  said  he  would  dwell  in  darkness. 
A  house  here  have  I  built,  thy  mansion, 
Thy  dwelling-place  for  all  the  ages. 

2.  The  Notes 

The  first  line  of  the  tetrastich  is  missing  in  the  Hebrew 
text.  It  was  probably  removed  on  account  of  its  contents. 
The  reference  to  Shemesh  seemed  objectionable  to  a  later 
age.  Fortunately,  it  was  preserved  in  the  Greek  version. 
Most  of  the  MSS.  have  a  reading  that  may  be  translated 
"he  made  the  sun  known  in  heaven"  or  "he  observed  the 
sun  in  heaven,"  those  that  seem  to  represent  the  Lucianic 
recension  one  meaning  "he  established  the  sun  in  heaven." 
Wellhausen  has  rightly  seen  that  these  variants  go  back  to 
forms  of  hin  and  kun  in  which  the  kaph  has  been  mistaken 
for  a  beth.  He  suggested  hekin  and  hehin.  But  this 
would  make  the  line  too  short,  and  Yahwe  belongs  to  the 
second  line.  The  original  was  probably  hithkonen,  mis- 
read  or   wrongly   copied   hithbonen.    The   latter   would 

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mean,  "he  observes,  examines,"  the  former  "he  is  estab- 
lished," "he  estabhshes  for  himself,"  or  "he  directs  his 
thought  to."  This  last  meaning,  common  in  later  Hebrew, 
may  have  facilitated  the  confusion,  which  was  made  after 
the  square  characters  had  come  into  vogue.  The  text 
began  with  Shemesh;  there  is  no  article  before  Helios  in 
the  Greek.  In  the  Hebrew  this  dedicatory  stanza  precedes, 
in  the  Greek  it  follows,  the  blessing  (vss.  15-21)  and  the 
prayer  (vss.  22-53)  inserted  in  different  places  at  a  later 
time.  Solomon  may  have  pronounced  the  divine  name 
Yahu,  The  dedication  was  taken  from  the  Book  of  Songs 
(Greek  8  :  53). 

3.  The  Exposition 

Shemesh,  the  sun-god,  has  his  home  in  the  great  luminary 
of  heaven.  It  is  a  fixed  abode.  His  path  is  the  same  from 
day  to  day.  He  dwells  in  dazzling  light.  On  the  other 
hand,  Yahwe,  or  Yahu,  is  a  divinity  whose  habitation  is 
in  darkness.  The  storm-cloud  is  his  home.  He  travels 
in  it,  as  in  a  chariot,  and  has  no  resting-place.  If  a  temple 
fitting  for  him  is  to  be  built,  it  must  be  provided  with  a 
dark  room,  a  cella,  in  which  it  shall  be  possible  for  him  to 
live  according  to  his  preference  and  nature.  This  the  oracle 
proclaimed  which  gave  the  king  permission  to  erect  the 
sanctuary.  The  house  is  so  constructed  that  it  will  last 
for  ages.  It  is  the  gift  of  Solomon  to  Yahwe,  and  is  offered 
as  a  place  for  him  to  dwell  in. 
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There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Solomon's  temple  was  in- 
tended to  be  a  national  sanctuary.  It  must,  then,  in  the 
first  place,  be  devoted  to  the  divinity  whose  relation  to 
Israel  was  regarded  as  of  the  same  character  as  that  of 
Chemosh  to  Moab,  Milkom  to  Ammon,  and  Ashur  to 
Assyria.  It  was  to  be  a  Yahwe-temple,  and  to  Yahwe  it 
was  dedicated  by  Solomon.  Such  a  temple  of  the  national 
God  it  was  understood  to  be  throughout  the  period  of  its 
existence,  until  it  was  destroyed  by  Nebuchadrezzar. 
This,  however,  did  not  prevent  it  from  being  a  sanctuary 
where  other  gods  were  also  worshipped.  Among  these 
gods,  none  was  more  closely  identified  with  the  temple  than 
Shemesh,  the  sun-god.  Ezekiel  (8  :  16)  describes  the  wor- 
ship of  Shemesh  in  the  temple.  Twenty  men  stand  be- 
tween the  altar  and  the  porch,  with  their  backs  to  the  shrine 
of  Yahwe,  facing  the  east  and  worshipping  the  sun-god. 
Josiah,  in  620  B.  C,  destroyed  the  bronze  horses  and 
chariots  dedicated  to  Shemesh  that  were  in  the  temple, 
near  the  chamber  of  Nathan -Melech  (2  Kings  23  :  11). 
They  were  probably  driven  in  Shemesh-processions. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a  broad  way  where  horses  were 
driven  between  the  temple  and  the  palace  immediately 
south  of  it  in  the  time  of  Athaliah  (842-837  B.  C),  accord- 
ing to  2  Kings  II  :  16.  Thus  there  were  apparently  pro- 
cessions of  horses  dedicated  to  Shemesh  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury. It  was  Solomon  (993-953  B.  C.)  who  first  imported 
horses  from  Que  and  Muzur,  i.  e.,  Cilicia  and  Northern 

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Syria  (i  Kings  11  :  28),  and  the  foreign  grooms  who  first 
handled  them  no  doubt  introduced  the  cult  connected  with 
them.  Solomon's  Tyrian  architect  brought  in  the  huge 
Brazen  Sea,  held  up  by  twelve  oxen,  a  repesentation  of  the 
victory  of  the  sun-god  over  the  primitive  sea-monster, 
Tehom-Tiamat.  Its  place  was  between  the  altar  and  the 
porch,  where  the  sun-worshippers  of  Ezekiel  stand.  The 
Brazen  Serpent,  Nehushtan,  whose  proper  name  may  have 
been  Leviathan,  as  Cheyne  thinks,  and  which  Hezekiah 
destroyed  (2  Kings  18  14),  was  probably  a  representation 
by  this  artist  of  the  sun-god's  victory  over  the  chaos-serpent. 
And  the  pillars  of  the  porch,  Jachin  and  Boaz,  were  no 
doubt  obelisks,  dedicated  in  Jerusalem,  as  in  Egypt,  to  the 
sun -god. 

It  was  natural  for  Solomon  in  the  midst  of  these  sur- 
roundings to  allude  to  Shemesh.  There  were  many  places 
dedicated  to  the  sun-god,  Beth  Shemesh,  En  Shemesh,  Kir 
Heres,  Timnath  Heres.  Why  not  this  sanctuary?  The 
reference  is  almost  apologetic.  Shemesh  is  visible  all  the 
time,  has  his  fixed  abode  in  heaven,  is  not  so  much  in  need 
of  a  habitation.  Yahwe,  through  some  oracle,  has  ex- 
pressed his  wish;  he  is  in  need  of  a  dwelling-place;  though 
unseen,  because  he  covers  himself  with  darkness,  he  should 
be  made  to  live  constantly  in  Zion.  There  was  less  need  of 
mentioning  the  other  divinities  worshipped  in  the  temple, 
like  Tammuz  for  whom  women  wept  in  the  temple  in  the 
days  of  Ezekiel  (8  :  14)  and  probably  at  all  times,  or  Ash- 
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tart  whom  Solomon  zealously  worshipped  (i  Kings  11  :  5). 
For  Chemosh  of  Moab,  and  Milkom  of  Ammon,  Solomon 
built  special  sanctuaries  on  the  mountain  in  front  of 
Jerusalem,  no  doubt  the  Mount  of  Olives  (i  Kings  11  :  7), 
so  that  they  may  not  have  been  among  the  synnaic  gods  of 
the  great  temple. 

Solomon  was  far  from  being  a  monotheist.  The  author 
of  the  Book  of  Kings  had  before  him  sources  telling  of  the 
gods  he  worshipped  and  the  sanctuaries  he  built  to  them. 
He  threw  the  blame  for  what  seemed  to  him  an  apostasy 
from  Yahwe  on  the  women  of  his  harem.  The  wise  king 
himself  would  probably  not  have  understood  the  necessity 
for  such  an  apology,  any  more  than  he  would  have  under- 
stood the  indignant  question  of  a  later  poet:  "Heapven  is 
my  throne,  and  earth'  my  footstool;  What  house  would  ye 
build  for  me,  and  what  place  as  my  habitation?"  (Isa. 
66  :  i),  or  the  sentiment  of  John  4  :  21:  "Neither  in  this 
mountain,  nor  in  Jerusalem  shall  ye  worship  the  Father." 


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The  Messages 


XXIX 

THE  TAUNT-SONG   ON   SENNACHERIB 

(2  Kings  19  :  21-28) 


Jerusalem 
laughs  at  thy 
threats,  thou 
blasphemer 
of  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel 
(2  Kings  19  : 
21-24) 


I.  The  Translation 

She  laughs  at  thee,  despises  thee, 
The  virgin  daughter  of  Zion; 
She  only  shakes  her  head  at  thee, 
Jerusalem's  fair  daughter. 

Whom  hast  thou  scorned  and  whom  blasphemed. 
Against  whom  hast  thou  raised  thy  voice, 
And  lifted  up  thine  eyes  on  high? 
The  Holy  One  of  Israel! 

By  messengers  thou  hast  provoked 
Yahwe,  and  said:    "I  will  ascend 
With  chariots  the  mountains  high. 
The  deepest  woods  of  Lebanon: 

"Its  cedars  tall,  its  choice  fir-trees, 
Its  farthest  lodge  I  will  cut  down; 
Strange  waters  I  will  dig  and  drink, 
Will  with  my  foot  dry  Egypt's  stream." 


N 


of  the  Poets 


Minor  Poems — 2  Kings  19  :  21-28 


"Hast  thou  not  heard  it  from  afar, 
What  I  have  done  in  ancient  times? 
I  bring  about  what  I  have  planned: 
Thou  shouldst  make  cities  into  heaps. 

"The  dwellers  in  them  have  no  power, 
.    They  wither  up  like  the  field's  herbs, 
The  green  grass,  on  house-top  the  flower. 
The  field  of  grain,  when  east  wind  blows. 

"Thy  sitting  down,  thy  going  out, 
Thy  coming  in,  I  know  it  well. 
Because  thy  raging  against  me. 
Thy  pride  has  come  into  my  ears. 

"My  hook  I  will  put  in  thy  nose. 
Will  place  my  bridle  in  thy  lips. 
Will  turn  thee  back  the  self-same  way. 
By  which  thou  camest  to  this  place." 

2.  The  Notes 

At  the  end  of  verse  25  the  two  words  nisim  and  besuroth 
should  be  removed. 

3.  The  Exposition 

Jerusalem  laughs  at  Sennacherib's  threats.  He  has 
blasphemed  Yahwe  and  raised  his  hand  against  the  Holy 
One  of  Israel  by  demanding  that  the  city  be  given  up  to  him, 

377 


Didst  thou 
not  realize 
that  thou  art 
my  tool  ? 
(19  :  25,  26) 


I  will  sum- 
marily turn 
thee  back 
(19  :  27,  28) 


Minor  Poems — 2  Kings  19  121-28  The  Messages 

The  Assyrian  has  sent  messages  in  which  he  has  set  forth 
his  intention  and  power  to  take  possession  of  the  Lebanons 
in  the  north  and  Egypt  in  the  south.  His  success  has  filled 
him  with  pride  and  arrogance.  But  he  should  know  that 
all  that  he  has  accomplished  was  part  of  Yahwe's  plan, 
was  done  with  his  permission.  Now  that  he  has  ignored 
and  provoked  Yahwe  he  will  no  longer  use  him  as  a  tool, 
but  put  his  hook  in  his  nose,  as  the  Assyrian  was  fond  of 
doing  (cp.  the  Zenjirli  stele  where  Esarhaddon  holds  two 
ropes  at  the  end  of  which  are  hooks  fastened  in  the  noses 
of  Tarhaka  of  Ethiopia,  and  Baal  of  Tyre),  and  turn  him 
back  to  Nineveh.  This  taunt-song  is  ascribed  to  Isaiah. 
But  if  it  had  been  uttered  by  him,  or  known  as  his,  it  would 
have  been  likely  to  have  found  a  place  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah. 
While  something  akin  to  his  spirit  may  be  seen  in  the  con- 
ception of  Yahwe's  purpose,  and  of  the  Assyrian  as  a  scourge 
in  his  hand,  the  idea  that  Jerusalem  has  no  occasion  to 
fear,  sustains  such  relations  to  Yahwe  that  it  can  be  with- 
out concern,  will  under  all  circumstances  be  protected  by 
him,  does  not  seem  to  be  in  harmony  with  Isaiah's  genuine 
utterances.  Yet  the  song  may  have  come  from  the  period 
and  therefore  been  naturally  ascribed  to  the  great  prophet 
living  in  Jerusalem  at  the  time. 


378 


of  the  Poets  Minor  Poems — 2  Kings  19  :  32-34 


XXX 

THE   ORACLE  AGAINST   SENNACHERIB 
(2  Kings  19:32-34) 

1.  The  Translation 

He  shall  not  come  into  this  town, 
He  shall  not  shoot  an  arrow  here, 
He  shall  not  bring  against  it  shield, 
Nor  cast  up  against  it  a  mount. 

The  way  by  which  he  came  to  it 
He  shall  return.     Yahwe  has  said, 
"This  town  I  will  myself  defend, 
For  David's  sake  who  served  me  well." 

2.  The  Exposition 

This  oracle  expresses  the  same  idea  as  the  taunt-song. 
When  Sennacherib,  in  701  B,  C,  invaded  Judah,  he  took 
forty  of  its  fortified  towns,  and  then  demanded  the  surrender 
of  the  capital.  He  was  satisfied,  however,  with  the  very 
heavy  tribute  made  by  Hezekiah,  and  did  not  deem  it  nec- 
essary, or  was  unwilling  under  the  existing  circumstances, 
to  lay  siege  against  the  city,  and  returned  to  Nineveh. 
This  must  have  appeared  to  many  as  a  remarkable  inter- 
vention on  the  part  of  Yahwe,  and  it  was  natural  that  it 

379 


Minor  Poems — Ecclesiastes  ii  :  7-12  :  7   The  Messages 

should  be  supposed  to  have  been  foretold,  especially  as 
there  was  a  great  prophet  in  the  city.  One  can,  therefore, 
understand  how  such  an  oracle  was  produced,  even  if  it 
does  not  seem  possible  to  accept  it  as  having  come  from 
Isaiah  himself. 

XXXI 

THE  SONG  OF  YOUTH  AND  AGE 

(Eccles.  II  :  7-12  :  7) 


Youth  is  the 
time  for  the 
enjoyment  of 
life  (Eccles. 
II :  7-io> 


I.  The  Translation 

Sweet  is  the  light,  good  to  the  eyes 
It  is  to  see  the  shining  sun. 
Though  many  be  the  years  he  lives, 
Man  should  in  all  of  them  rejoice. 


Rejoice,  O  young  man,  in  thy  youth, 
Let  thy  heart  cheer  thee  in  thy  prime, 
Walk  in  the  way  thy  fancy  leads, 
Follow  what  pleases  best  thine  eyes, 


Remove  all  worry  from  thy  mind, 
And  from  thy  body  banish  pain; 
For  youth  is  but  a  passing  breath, 
Life's  dayspring  only  vanity. 
380 


of  the  Poets      Minor  Poems— Ecclesiastes  ii  :  7-12  :  7 


The  days  of  evil  will  draw  nigh, 
The  years  in  which  no  pleasure  is, 
When  the  sun's  light  to  darkness  turns, 
And  after  rain  the  clouds  appear; 

When  shake  the  keepers  of  the  house, 
The  men  of  war  are  bending  down; 
The  maids  cease  grinding  in  the  mill, 
The  light  is  in  the  windows  dim; 

When  to  the  street  the  doors  are  shut, 
And  low  the  sound  of  grinding  is. 
And  feeble  is  the  song-bird's  chirp. 
And  silent  all  the  sounds  of  song; 

When  of  the  hill  there  is  a  fear, 
The  almond-tree  scorned  in  the  way, 
And  the  grasshopper  leaps  no  more, 
While  no  strength  has  the  caper  plant; 

Until  the  silver  cord  is  snapped, 
And  broken  is  the  golden  bowl, 
The  pitcher  at  the  fountain  cracked, 
And  at  the  well  the  wheel  destroyed; 

And  to  the  earth  the  dust  returns, 
To  the  Most  High  the  breath  ascends, 
To  his  eternal  home  man  goes. 
And  in  the  street  mourners  lament. 

381 


Old  age  is 
full  of  sor- 
rows; the 
body  gradu- 
ally decays 
(12  :  1-5) 


Until,  at  last, 
death  comes 
(12:6,7) 


Minor  Poems — Ecclesiastes  ii :  7-12  :  7   The  Messages 

2.  The  Notes 

The  second  part  of  verse  8,  "and  let  him  remember  the 
days  of  darkness,  for  great  is  all  the  trouble  that  shall  come," 
is  an  interpolation.  Probably  from  the  same  hand  comes 
the  warning  "and  know  that  for  all  this  he  shall  bring 
thee  into  judgment,"  in  verse  9b,  as  well  as  the  similar  ad- 
monition "and  remember  thy  creator  in  the  days  of  thy 
youth"  (12  :  i).  "Which  thou  shalt  say"  is  an  addition 
in  verse  2,  and  the  enumeration  "and  the  light,  and  the 
moon,  and  the  stars"  is  another.  Verse  5b  has  apparently 
been  transposed;  its  natural  place  is  after  verse  7. 

3.  The  Exposition 

The  Song  of  Youth  and  Age  is  the  only  poetic  part  of 
the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.  Whether  it  was  remembered  by 
the  original  author  and  copied  into  his  text  or  added  by  a 
later  scribe  cannot  be  determined.  Its  date  is  likely  to  be 
the  first  century  B.  C.  It  counsels  the  enjoyment  of  the 
good  things  of  life  in  youth  before  old  age  comes  on  with 
its  ailments.  A  pathetic  picture  is  drawn  of  the  frailty 
and  helplessness  of  age  and  its  incapacity  for  enjoyment. 
The  decay  of  the  various  members  of  the  body  is  described, 
the  legs,  the  arms,  the  teeth,  the  eyes,  the  ears,  and  the 
generative  organs.  The  end  of  the  process  is  that  the 
blood  pumped  from  the  heart  to  the  different  parts  of  the 
organism  ceases  to  flow.  Death  comes  when  the  dust  re- 
382 


of  the  Poets      Minor  Poems — Ecclesiastes  ii  :  7-12  :  7 

turns  to  earth  and  the  breath  to  God,  and  man  goes  to  his 
everlasting  home,  the  grave,  leaving  only  the  survivors  to 
lament  his  departure.  The  deep  sense  of  the  desirability 
of  life,  the  intrinsic  worth  of  human  existence,  adds  to  the 
pathos  of  this  song.  It  touches  every  heart  because  it  sings 
the  universal  fate  of  man;  it  is  at  once  a  chant  of  death's 
advance  even  in  the  midst  of  life,  and  life's  affirmation  of 
its  joy  even  in  full  view  of  death. 


383 


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386 


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ON  HEBREW  METRE 

Anton,  C.  G.:  Coniectura  de  metro  Hebraorum,  1770;  Vindi- 
ci(B  disputationis  de  metro  HehrcBorum,  1771;  Editionis  in 
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interpretation  of  Aristoxenus.) 

Augustine,  Aurelius:  De  Musica,  III,  i:  Migne,  Patrologia 
Latina,  XXXII,  col.  11 16. 

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1813. 

Bickell,  Gustav.:  Meirices  biblicce  regulce  exemplis  illustratce, 
1882;  Carmina  V.  T.  metrice,  1882;  Dichtungen  der 
Hebrder  zum  erstenmal  nach  dem  Versmasse  der  Urtexte 
iibersetzt,  1882;  ZDMG,  XXXIII,  701-706,  XXXIV, 
558-563;  XXXV,  415-422;  WZKM,  V,  79  ff-,  191  ff-. 
271  fif.,  Z,/.  Kath.  Th.,  1885-1886. 

Briggs,  C.  A.:  Homiletical  Quarterly,  1881,  pp.  398  fif.,  555  ff.; 
Biblical  Study,  1883,  pp.  262  fif.;  Hebraica,  1886-1887; 
General  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Holy  Scripture,  1899, 
pp.  355-426. 

Brown,  Francis:  Journal  of  Biblical  Literature,  1890,  pp.  71  fif. 

Budde,  Karl:  "Ueber  vermeintliche  metrische  Formen," 
Theologische  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1874,  pp.  747  fif.; 
"Das  hebraische  Klagelied,"  ZATW,  1882,  pp.  i  fif.; 
"Die  metrische  Beschaffenheit  des  Buches  Hiob,"  Theo- 
logische Studien  und  Kritiken,  1895,  pp.  635  £F.;  article 
"Poetry,"  in  Hastings's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  1902. 

387 


Bibliography 

Cappel,  Louis:    Ad  novam  Davidis  lyram  animadversiones, 

1643. 
Cobb,  William  H. :   A  Criticism  of  Systems  of  Hebrew  Metre, 

1905. 
Doller,  J.:    Rhythmus,  Metrik  und  Strophik  in  der  hihlisch- 

hehrdischen  Poesie,  1899. 
Duhm,  Bernhard:    Die  Psalmen,  1899;    Das  Buck  Jeremia, 

1901;     Die    zwblf   Propheten,    1910;     article    "Poetical 

Literature,"  in  EncyclopcBdia  Biblica,  1902. 
Eusebius    of    Caesarea:    De  prcsparatione    evangelica,  IX,  5: 

Migne,  Patr.  Grceca,  XXI,  col.  852  ff. 
Gietmann,  P.  G.:   De  re  metrica  HebrcBorum,  1880. 
Gomarus,  Fr.:   Davidis  lyra  sive  nova  Hebraica  S.  Scriptures 

ars  poetica,  1637;    Opera  omnia',  1664,  II,  313-336. 
Greve,  E.  J.:   Ultima  capp.  libri  J  obi,  I,  1788;  II,  Etlibellum 

de  metris,  1791. 
Grimme,    Hubert:     Grundziige    der    hebrdishen   Accent-und 

Vocallehre,  1896;  ZDMG,  L,  529  flf.,  LI,  683  ff. 
Hare,  F.:    Psalmorum  liber  in  versiculos  metrice  divisus,  1736. 
Jerome:    Prcefatio  ad  Eusebii  Chronicon:    Migne,  Patr.  Lat., 

XXVII,  col.  36;    Prcefatio  ad  librum  lob:   Migne,   Patr. 

Lat.,  XXVII,  col.   1081;    Epistula  ad  Paulam:    Migne, 

P.  L.,  XXII,  col.  442;    Epistula  ad  Paulinum:   Migne, 

P.  L.,  XXII,  col.  457. 
Jones,  William:  Poeseos  AsiaticcB  commentariorum  libri,  1777. 
Josephus,  Flavius:   Antiquitates  Judaicce,  II,  xvi,  4;   IV,  viii, 

44;  VII,  xii,  3. 
Koster,  F.  B.:  "Ueber  die  Strophen  und  des  Parallelismus  der 

hebraischen  Poesie,"  Theologische  Studien  und  Kritiken, 

183 1,  pp.  40  ff. 
Kuenen,   Abraham:    Historisch-kritisch   Onderzoek  naar  het 

Ontstaan  en  de  Versameling  van  de  Boeken  des  Ouden 

VerbondSj  III,  i,  1893,  pp.  12  ff. 

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Bibliography 

Le  Hir,  J.:  "Le  Rhythme  chez  les  Hebreux,"  Le  Livre  de 

Job,  pp.  183-215. 
Leutwein,  G.  L.:    Versuch  einer  richtigen  Theorie  von  der 

hihlischen  Verskunst,  1775. 
Ley,  Julius:  " Die  metrischen  Formen  der  hebraischen  Poesie," 

1866:  ZDMG,  XX,  180  ff.;  Grundziige  des  Rhythmus,  des 

Vers-und  Strophenbaues  in  der  hebraischen  Poesie,  1875; 

Leitfaden  der  Metrik  der  hebraischen  Poesie,  1887;    "Die 

metrische  Beschaffenhet  des  Buches  Hiob,"  Theologische 

Studien  und  Kritiken,  1895,  pp.  635  ff. 
Lowth,  Robert:   De  sacra  poesi  Hebrceorum,  1753. 
Meibom,  M. :  Davidis  psalmi  XII  et  totidem  S.S.  V.T.  integra 

capita,  1698. 
Meier,  E.:    Die  Form  der  hebraischen  Poesie  nachgewiesen^ 

1853;   Die  poetischen  Bilcher  des  A.  T.,  1854;   Geschichte 

der  poetischen  N ationalliteratur  der  Hebrder,  1856. 
Merx,  Adalbert:   Das  Gedicht  Hiob,  1871. 
Miiller,  D.  H.:   Die  Propheten  in  ihrer  urspriinglichen  Fornty 

1896;  Strophenbau  und  Responsion,  1898. 
Neteler,  B. :  Anfang  der  hebraischen  Metrik  der  Psalmen,  1871; 

Grundziige  der  hebraischen  Metrik  der  Psalmen,  1879. 
Origen:    Quoted  by  Jerome  in  Prcejatio  ad  Eusebii  Chron. 

and  Prcef.  in  librum  lob. 
Philo  of  Alexandria:  De  Vita  Mosis,  i,  5  (II,  84,  ed.  Mangey); 

De  Vita  Contemplativa,  iii  and  x  (II,  476  and  484,  ed. 

Mangey). 
Rothstein,  J.  W.:  Grundziige  des  hebraischen  Rhythmus  und 

seiner  Formenbildung,  1909;    "Zur   Kritik   des  Debora- 

liedes,"  ZDMG,  LVI,  1902,  pp.  175  ff.,  and  LVII,  1903, 

pp.  192  flf. 
Saalschiitz,  J.   L.:    Von  der  Form   der   hebraischen   Poesie, 

1825;    Form   und   Geist   der  biblisch-hebrdischen  Poesie, 

1853. 

389 


Bibliography 

Schloegl,  N.:  De  re  ntetrica  veterum  Hebrceorum,  1899;  ZDMG, 
LXII,  pp.  698  ff. 

Schlottmann,  Konstantin:  Ueber  den  Strophenbau  in  der 
hebrdischen  Poesie,  1851. 

Sievers,  Eduard:  Studien  zur  hebrdischen  Metrik,  I,  II, 
1901. 

Toy,  C.  H. :   The  Book  of  Proverbs,  1899,  pp.  viii  ff. 

Vetter,  P.:  "Die  Metrik  des  Buches  Hiob,"  in  Biblische 
Studien,  II,  4,  187. 

Wickes,  W.:  A  Treatise  on  the  Accentuation  of  the  Three  So- 
called  Poetical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament,  1881. 

Zenner,  I.  K.:  Die  Chorgesdnge  im  Buche  der  Psalmen,  1896; 
Z.f  Kath.  Th.,  1897,  pp.  551  ff.,  1898,  pp.  393  ff.,  417  ff., 

583  ff. 
For  general  orientation  the  best  works  are  those  by  Cobb 
Doller,  Schloegl,  and  the  introductions  to  the  Old  Testament 
by  Briggs  and  Kuenen.  The  most  important  system.s  are 
those  of  Bickell,  Ley,  Grimme,  and  Sievers.  On  Babylonian 
metre  the  following  works  may  be  consulted: 
Delitzsch,   Friedrich:    Das  Babylonische  Weltschdpfungsepos, 

1896. 
Hommel,    Fritz:     Die    altisraelitische    Ueber  lief erung,   1897, 

pp.  184  ff.,  311  ff, 
Scheil,  F.  V.:    "Hymne  Babylonien  avec  metre  apparent," 

in  ZA,  1895,  p.  191. 
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Arab,  origine,  1^43,  and  Margoliouth,  D.  S.:  An  Essay  on  the 
Place  of  Ecclesiasticus  in  Semitic  Literature,  1890. 

On  Coptic  poetry,  see  Erman,  A.:   Bruchstucke  kopiischer 
Volkslieder,  Abh.  k.  preuss.  Ak.  d.  Wiss.,  1897. 


39Q 


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Moses  ben  Nachman:  In  the  Rabbinic  Bibles. 

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Vaihinger,  J.  G.:  Das  Buck  Hioh,  1856. 

Voigt,  O.:  Einige  Stellen  des  Buches  Hioh,  1895, 

Volck,  W.:    De  summa  Carminis  lohi  sententia,  1869;    Das 

Buck  Hioh  und  der  Prediger,  1889. 
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new  edition,  1837,  II,  383-430. 
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The  student  may  consult  with  profit  the  introductions  to  the 
Old  Testament  by  Baudissin,  Bertholdt,  Bleek,  Briggs,  Budde, 
Carpzov,  Cornely,  Cornill,  Davidson,  De  Wette,  Driver, 
Eichhorn,  Flirst,  Glaire,  Havernick,  Herbst,  Home,  Jahn, 
Kaulen,  Keil,  Konig,  Kuenen,  Michaelis,  Riehm,  Simon, 
Strack,  Vatke,  and  Wildeboer.  The  older  literature  is  best 
indicated  in  the  works  of  Carpzov,  Franz  Delitzsch,  Rosen- 
muller,  Schlottmann,  Welte,  and  Zockler;  the  more  recent 
literature  is  referred  to,  more  or  less  extensively,  in  the  latest 
commentaries. 

ON  CANTICLES 

Abu'l  faraj,  Gregorius:    Anmerkungen  zu  den  salomonischen 

Schriften,  herausgegeben  von  Alfred  Rahlfs,  1887. 
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Bihle,  1895. 
(Ammon,  C.  F.) :  Salomons  verschmdhte  Liehe,  oder  die  helohnte 

Treue,  ein  Liehesgedicht  aus  dem  Salomonischen  Zeitalter, 

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Bruston,  C.:  La  Sulammite,  1891. 

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cantares  de  Salomon,  1798.         Written  ca.  1569. 
Lessing,  J.  T.:   Eclogce  Regis  Salomo7iis,  1777. 
Lindgren,  H.  G.:    Jungfrun  fron  Sulem  eller  Salomos  Hoga 

Visa,  1875. 
Lowth,  R.:  De  Sacra  Poesi  HehrcBorum,  1753,  pp.  299  ff. 
Luther,  M.:   Brevis  enarratio  in  Cantica  Canticorum,  Opp.  ed. 

Erlanger,  XXI. 
Magnus,   E.   J.:    Kritische  Bearheitung  und  ErUrdrung  des 

Hohen  Liedes  Salomons,  1842. 
Martin,  G.  C.:   "The  Song  of  Songs,"  Century  Bible,  1908. 
Martineau,  Russell:  In  American  Journal  of  Philology,  XIII, 

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400 


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Meier,  Ernst:  Das  Hohe  Lied,  1854. 

Mendelsohn,  Moses:    Salomons  Holies  Lied  fiir  die  jiidisch- 

deutsche  Nation  uhersetzt,  1789. 
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Michaelis,  J,  D, :  PrcBlectio  xxxi  added  to  the  Gottingen  edition 
of  Lowth's  De  Sacra  Poesi  Hebrceorum,  1758;  later  views 
in  Orientalische  und  Exegetische  Bihliothek,  III,  1772,  pp. 
44  ff.;  VI,  1774,  pp.  134  £f.;  VII,  1774,  pp.  166  ff.;  Neue 
Or.  und  Exeg.  Bibl.,  IV,  1787,  pp.  179  ff. 

Minocchi,  S.:  II  Cantico  dei  Cantici  di  Salomone,  1898. 

Nannius,  P.:  Scholia  et  Commentaria  in  Cantica  Canticorum, 
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Noack,  L. :    Tharraqah  und  Sidamith,  1869. 

Nonnen,  Nicolaus:  De  canonica  auctoritate  Cantici  Cantico- 
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Noyes,  George  R. :  A  New  Trafislation  of  the  Proverbs,  Eccle- 
siastes  and  Canticles,  1846. 

Oettli,  S.:   Das  Hohelied  und  die  Klaglieder,  1889. 

Origen:  Ed.  Lommatzsch,  XIV,  233  f.  (The  Philocalia),XTV, 
287-XV,  90,  in  the  Latin  translation  of  Rufinus,  and  two 
Homilies  translated  by  Jerome,  all  earlier  than  244  A.  D. 

Petraeus,  Laurentius:  Canticum  Canticorum  Salomonis,  para- 
phrasi  cum  ligata  Ebrcea  et  Danica,  tum  prosa  Latina 
adornatum,  1640. 

Pineda  Joan  de:  PrcBlectio  S.  in  Canticum  Canticorum, 
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Rapin,  Rene:  Eglogce  sacrce  et  Dissertation  sur  le  poeme  pas- 
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Renan,  E.:  Le  Cantique  des  Cantiques,  i860. 

Reuss,  E.:  Le  Cantique  des  Cantiques,  1879. 

Riedel,  W.:  Die  Auslegung  des  Hohenliedes  in  der  jiidischen 
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ischen  Rhythmus,  1909,  pp.  348-397;   article  "Canticles," 

in  Hastings's  Bible  Dictionary,  III,  1902. 
Salfeld,  S. :  Das  Hohelied  Salomons  bei  den  jiidischen  Erkldrern 

des  Mittelalters,  1879. 
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Siegfried,  Carl:   Prediger  und  Hoheslied,  1898. 
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Theodore  of  Mopsuestia:  See  the  Acts  of  the  Fifth  CEcumenic 
Council,  in  Mansi,  G.  D.,  Sacrorum  Conciliorum  Nova  et 
Amplissima  Collectio,  IX,  225  ff.,  and  Riedel,  I.  c.  80  ff. 
Theodoret  of  Cyrus:    Explanatio    in  Canticum  Canticorum, 

ed.  Schulze,  T.,  II. 
Uhlemann,  F.:    De  varia  Cantici  Canticorum  interpretatiofie, 

1839. 
Umbreit,  F.  W.  C:   Lied  der  Liebe,  1828,  2te  Aufl. 
Vaihinger,  J.  G.:   Der  Prediger  und  das  Hohelied,  1858. 
Vatke,  Wilhelm:  Hist.  krit.  Einleitung  in  das  Alte  Testament^ 

1886,  pp.  572  ff. 
Velthusen,  J.  C:  Das  Hohelied,  1786. 
W(achter),  G(eorg):   Das  Hohe  Lied  des  Salomo,  1722. 
Weissbach,  F.  E.:   Das  Hohelied  Salomons,  1858. 
Whiston,   William:    An  Essay   Towards  Restoring  the  True 

Text  of  the  Old  Testament,  1722. 
Williram:    Paraphrasis   in   Canticum  Canticorum,  ed.   Hoff- 
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Winckler,    Hugo:     Altorientalische   Forschungen,    I,   292  ff.; 

Ill,  237  ff. 
Zockler,  Otto:   Das  Hohelied  und  der  Prediger,  1868. 
Zunz,  Leopold:  Vorrede  to  Rebenstein's  Das  Lied  der  Lieder, 
1834,  pp.  i-viii. 
The  Jewish  commentaries  are  described  in  the  works  of 
Carpzov,   Delitzsch,    Ginsburg,    Graetz,   Riedel,   Salfeld   and 
Zunz;    the  early  Christian  commentaries  in  those  of  Carpzov, 
Cunitz,    Delitzsch,    Riedel,    Rosenmiiller,    Schlottmann,    and 
Uhlemann.     Attempts  at  dramatic  construction  were  made 
before   Jacobi    by    Laurentius   Petraeus,    Hermann   von   der 
Hardt,  and  the  Breslau  anonymous;    Oriental  customs  to  sup- 
port the  epithalamic  theory  of  Bossuet  and  Lowth  were  pointed 
out  by  Schefer  and  Renan  before  Wetzstein;    the  conception 
of  Canticles  as  an  anthology  of  love-songs,  idyls,  eclogues, 

403 


Bibliography 

or  madrigals  was  entertained  before  Herder  by  Luis  de  Leon, 
Rene  Rapin,  Charles  Cotin,  Richard  Simon,  Jean  le  Clerc, 
Claude  Genest,  and  others.  Some  of  the  Anabaptists  seem 
to  have  shared  the  attitude  of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia, 
Chateillon,  Episcopius,  and  J.  D.  Michaelis.  Grotius  is  the 
forerunner  of  the  modern  school  of  nuptial  allegorists. 


ON  THE  MINOR   POEMS 

Collections  of  poems  found  in  the  historical  books  have  been 
made  and  discussed  by  Herder,  J.  G. :  Vom  Geist  der  hebrdischen 
Poesie,  1782-1783;  Nachtigal,  J.  C.  (pseudonym  "Otmar"): 
"Neue  Versuche  iiber  die  ersten  eilf  Abschnitte  der  Genesis," 
in  Henke's  Magazin  fiir  Religionsphilosophie,  Exegese  und 
Kirchengeschichte,  1796,  pp.  291  ff.;  Justi,  C.  W.:  National- 
gesdnge  der  Hehrder  neu  ubersetzt  und  erldutert,  1803;  Bottcher, 
F.:  Exegetisch-kritische  Aehrenlese,  1849;  Bunsen,  C.  C.  J.: 
"Die  geschichtlichen  Lieder  Israels,"  in  Bihelurkunden,  I,  i860, 
pp.  515-612;  Meier,  Ernst:  Gesch.  der  poetischen  National- 
literatur  d.  Hehrder,  1856;  Sack,  K.  H.:  Die  Lieder  in  den 
historischen  Biichern  des  Alien  Testaments,  1864;  Bruston,  C 
Cours  sur  la  poesie  lyrique  des  Hebreiix,  1883;  Bickell,  G 
Carmina  Veteris  Testamenti  metrice,  1882;  and  S  levers,  E 
Studien  zur  hebrdischen  Metrik,  II,  1901,  pp.  401  ff.  Nachti- 
gal anticipated  the  latest  views  of  Sievers  in  regarding  Gen. 
i-ii  as  for  the  most  part  poetical  in  form.  The  intro- 
ductions to  the  Old  Testament  mentioned  on  p.  396  deal 
more  or  less  with  those  selected  in  this  volume.  See  also  the 
articles  on  the  more  important  songs  in  Cheyne's  Encyclopcedia 
Biblica  and  Hastings's  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  and  on  "Poetical 
Literature"  (Duhm)  in  the  former  and  on  "Poetry"  (Budde) 
in  the  latter. 

404 


Bibliography 

On  the  twenty-one  songs  taken  from  the  Pentateuch  and 
Joshua,  consult  Kuenen,  A. :  The  Hexateuch.  Translated  by 
P.  H.  Wicksteed,  1886;  Wellhausen,  J.:  Die  Composition  des 
H exateuchs,  2teT  Druck,  i88g;  Westphal,  A. :  Les  Sources  du 
Pentateuch,  1888-1892;  Holzinger,  H. :  Einleitung  in  den 
Hexateuch,  1893;  Carpenter,  J.  Estlin,  and  Harford-Battersby, 
G.:  The  Hexateuch,  1900;  Steuernagel,  C:  Allgemeine  Ein- 
leitung in  den  Hexateuch,  1900;  Bacon,  B.  W.:  Genesis  of 
Genesis,  1893;  The  Triple  Tradition  of  the  Exodus,  1894. 
They  are  more  carefully  discussed  in  the  commentaries  on 
Genesis  by  Vater,  Von  Bohlen,  Tuch,  Hartmann,  Knobel 
Dillmann,  Delitzsch,  Reuss,  Strack,  Holzinger,  Gunkel,  and 
Skinner;  on  Exodus  by  Dillmann,  Reuss,  Strack,  Ryssel,  and 
Holzinger;  on  Leviticus  by  Dillmann,  Reuss,  Strack,  Driver- 
White,  Baentsch,  and  Bertholet;  on  Numbers  by  Dillmann, 
Reuss,  Strack,  Paterson,  Holzinger,  and  Gray;  on  Deuter- 
onomy by  Dillmann,  Reuss,  Montet,  Oettli,  Harper,  Steuer- 
nagel, Driver,  and  Bertholet;  and  on  Joshua  by  Dillmann, 
Reuss,  Oettli,  Steuernagel,  and  Holzinger,  The  earlier  com- 
mentaries are  given  in  Rosenmiiller.  On  the  songs  of  Lamech 
and  Noah,  see  Budde,  C;  Biblische  Urgeschichte,  1883;  on  the 
Tower  Song,  Stade,  B.:  ZATW,  1895,  p.  157;  Gunkel,  H.: 
Schopfung  und  Chaos,  1895,  p.  149,  and  especially  Duhm,  B.: 
Enc.  Bibl.,  Ill,  col.  3796;  on  the  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  Dirge, 
Duhm:  Ibid.,  and  Cheyne,  T.  K.:   The  New  World,  I,  236  S. 

On  the  Blessing  of  Jacob  the  following  monographs  may  be 
mentioned: 

Ball,  C.  J.:  In  Proc.  Soc.  Bibl.  Arch.,  XVII,  pp.  179  f. 
Diestel,  Ludwig:  Der  Segen  Jakobs,  1853. 
Fripp,  E.  J.:    "Note  on  Gen.  49  :  24b-26,"  in  ZATW,  XI, 

1891,  pp.  262  ff. 
Grabe,  J.  E.:   In  Eichhorn's  Repertorium,  IV,  154  ff. 
Hasse,  J.  G,;   In  MagazinfUr  bibl.  orient.  Literatur,  I,  6  ff. 


Bibliography 

Heinrichs,  J.  H.:  De  auctore  atque  CBtate  c.  xlix  Gen.,  1790. 
Hufnagel,   W.   F.:    In   Eichhorn's  Repertorium,   XIV,   1784, 

235  ff- 
Kohler,  K.:  Der  Segen  Jakohs,  1867. 
Land,  J.  P.  N.:   Disputatio  de  carmine  Jacobi,  1S58. 
Offord,  A.  N.:  The  Prophecy  of  Jacob,  1877. 
Peters,  J.  P.:  J.  Bibl.  Lit.,  VI,  1886,  pp.  99  ff. 
Schmidt,  J.  E.  C:   Eine  d.  dltesten  und  schonsten  Idyllen  des 

Morgenlandes,  i  B.  M.  49,  1793. 
Teller,  W.  A. :    Uebersetzung  des  Segens  Jakobs  und  Moses,  in 

gleichem  des  Lieds  der   Israeliten  imd  der  Debora  mit 

beigefiigten  Anmerkungen,  1766. 
Zimmern,  H.:   In  Z.f.  Assyr.,  VII,  161  ff. 

On  the  Song  of  Moses,  Ex.  15,  see  Bender,  A.:  In  ZATW, 
XXIII,  1903,  pp.  I  ff.;  Jiilicher,  A.:  In  Jahrbiicher  f.  prot. 
Th.,  VIII,  1882,  124  ff.;  Moore,  G.  F.:  Article  "Exodus, 
Book  of,"  in  Enc.  Bibl.,  1901;  and  Renan,  E.:  Histoire  des 
langues  Semitiqiies,  3d  ed.,  1863,  p.  124;  on  the  songs  in  Num. 
21,  Budde,  K.:  Preuss.  Jahrb.,  LXXXII,  1895,  pp.  491  ff.; 
Meyer,  E.:  ZATW,  I,  1881,  pp.  118  ff.,  V,  1885,  pp.  36  ff.; 
Stade,  B.:  Geschichte  Israels,  I,  1889,  2te  Aufl.,  p.  117. 

On  the  Prophecies  of  Balaam,  see  : 
Cheyne,  T.  K. :   In  Expository  Times,  1899,  pp.  399  ff. 
Delitzsch,  Franz:  In  Zeitschrift  d.  kirchl.  Wissenschaft,  1888. 
Ewald,  H.:    In  Jahrbiicher  fiir  Biblische  Wissenschaft,  VIII, 

1856,  pp.  I  ff. 
Gall,  A.  von:    Zusammensetzung  und  Herkunft  der  Bileam- 

perikope,  1900. 
Halevy,  J.:  In  Revue  Semitiqiie,  1894,  pp.  201  ff. 
Hoonacker,  A.  van:  In  Le  Museon,  1888. 
Kalisch   A.:  Bible  Studies,  1877. 
Kuenen,  A.:    In  Theologisch  Tijdschrift,  XVIII,  1884,  pp, 

532  ff. 

406 


Bibliography 

Oort,  H.:  Disputatio  de  Num.  2^-24,  i860. 

Zimmern,  H. :   In  Schrader's  Keilinschriften  u.  d.  A.  T.,  3te 

Aufl.,  1902,  p,  148. 
On  the  Song  of  Moses,  Deut.  32,  see: 
Ewald,  H.:  In  Jahrh.f.  hihl.  Wiss.,  1857,  pp.  41  ff. 
Kamphausen,  A.:  Das  Lied  Hose's,  1862. 
Klostermann,  A.:  "Das  Lied  Moses und das Deuteronomium," 

in  Studien  und  Kritiken,  1871,   pp.    249   ff.,    1872,   pp. 

236  ff. 
Lonr,  M.:  In  Protestantische  Monatshefte,  1903,  pp.  i  ff. 
Stade,  B.:  In  ZATW,  1885,  pp.  297  ff. 
Volck,  W.:  Mosis  canticum  cygneum,  1861. 
On  the  Blessing  of  Moses,  Deut.  33,  see: 
Ball,  C.  J.:   "The  Blessing  of  Moses,"  in  Proc.  of  the  Sac.  for 

Bihl.  Arch.,  1896,  pp.  118  ff. 
Ewald,  H.:  In  Jahrh.f.  hihl.  Wiss.,  Ill,  1851,  p.  234. 
Flier,  G.  I.  van  der:  Deuteronomium  2,3,  1895. 
Graf,  K.  H.:  Der  Segen  Moses,  1857. 
Stade,  B.:  In  Geschichte  Israels,  1,  150  ff. 
Volck,  W.:  Der  Segen  Moses,  1873. 

In  addition  to  the  commentaries  on  Judges  by  Sebastian 
Schmidt  (so  he  wrote  his  name),  G.  L.  Studer,  E.  Reuss,  J. 
Bachmann,  G.  F.  Moore,  K.  Budde,  and  W.  Nowack,  the  fol- 
lowing monographs  and  studies  on  the  Song  of  Deborah  may 
be  consulted: 
Bottcher,  F.:    Die  dltesten  Biihnendichtungen.     Der  Dehora- 

Gesang  und  das  Hoke  Lied,  1850. 
Cooke,  G.  A.:    The  History  and  Song  of  Deborah,  1892. 
Grimme,  H.:  In  ZDMG,  1896,  pp.  572  ff. 
Hollmann,    G.    H.:     Commentarius  phil.   criticus  in  carmen 

DeborcB,  1818. 
Kohler,  J.  B. :  In  Eichhorn's  Repertorium,  VI,  1780,  pp.  163  ff., 

XII,  1783,  pp.  235  ff. 

407 


Bibliography 

Konig,  E.:    In  Die  Stilistik,  Rhetorik  und  Poetik,  1900,  pp. 

291. 
Mar  quart,   J.:   Fundamente    israelitischer  und  jiidischer  Ge- 

schichte,  1896. 
Meier,  E. :    Uebersetzung  u.  Erkldrung  d.  Debora  Liedes,  1859. 
Miiller,  A.:    "Das  Lied  der  Debora"  in  Konigsherger  Studien^ 

1887. 
Miiller,  D.  H.:  Les  Actesd'  xi^  Congres  das  Orientalistes,  1898, 

4,  pp.  201  £f. 
Riess,  A. :  In  Preuss.  Jalirhiicher,  XCI,  295  £f. 
Rothstein,  J.  W.:   "Zur  Kritik  des  Deboraliedes,"  in  ZDMG, 

1902,  pp.  175  £f.,  437  £f.,  697  ff.,  1903,  pp.  192  fif.,  344  ff. 
Ruben,  A.:  In  Jewish  Quarterly  Rev.,  1898,  pp.  541  ff. 
Segond,  A.:  Le  C antique  de  Debora,  1900. 
Stephan,  A.:  Das  Debar alied,  1900. 
Vernes,  M.:   "Le  Cantique  de  Debora,"  in  Revue  des  Etudes 

Juives,  1892,  pp.  52  ff.,  225  ff. 
In  addition  to  the  commentaries  on  the  Books  of  Samuel 
by  O.  Thenius,  A.  Klostermann,  M.  Lohr,  H.  P.  Smith,  K. 
Budde,  and  W.  Nowack,  see  for  the  inserted  songs  Budde,  K.: 
Die  Bilcher  Richter  und  Samuel,  1890;  Driver,  S.  R.:  Notes 
on  the  Hebrew  Text  of  the  Books  of  Samuel,  1890;  Wellhausen, 
J.:  Der  Text  der  Biicher  Samuelis,  187 1;  and  especially  on 
the  Song  of  Hannah,  Ewald,  H. :  Die  Poetischen  Biicher  des 
Alten  Bundes,  I,  1839,  pp.  iii  ff.;  Funk,  G.  F.  W.:  Hannce 
Canticum  I  Sam.  2,  1841;  Haupt,  P. :  In  ZDMG,  LVIII,  1904, 
pp.  614  ff.;  and  on  the  Lament  of  David,  2  Sam.  i: 
Bickell,   G. :    Carmina   V.   T.,   1882,  p.   198;    Dichtungen  d. 

Hebrder,  1882,  p.  34  ff. 
Cheyne,  T.  K. :   Critica  Bihlica,  Part  III,  249  ff, 
Ewald,  H.:  Dichter  d.  Alien  Bundes,  1866,  pp.  149  ff. 
Gietmann,  P.  G.:  De  re  metrica  HebrcBorum,  1880,  pp.  71  ff. 
Grimme,  H. :   In  Theol.  Quartalschrift,  1897,  pp.  580  ff. 

408 


Bibliography 

Pcrles,  F.:  In  Wiener  Z.f.  Kunde  d.  Mongenl.,  1896,  pp.  103  ff. 
Peters,  Norbert:  Beitrdge  zur  Text-und  Literarkritik  sowie  zur 
Erkldnmg  der  Biicher  Samuel,  1899,  pp.  167-188. 

On  the  last  words  of  David,  2  Sam,  23,  see:  Bottcher,  F. : 
Netie  Aehrenlese,  1863,  pp.  246  ff.;  Fries,  A.:  In  Theol.  Studien 
u.  Kritiken,  1857,  pp.  645  flf.  On  i  Kings  8:12,  see  the  com- 
mentaries on  the  Books  of  Kings  by  Thenius,  Klostermann, 
Reuss,  Kittel,  and  Benzinger;  and  Wellhausen,  J.:  In  Bleek's 
Einleitung  in  d.  A.  T.,  4te  Aufl.,  1878,  p.  236;  Cheyne,  T.  K.: 
Origin  of  the  Psalter,  1892,  pp.  212  ff.;  Silberstein,  S.:  In 
ZAWT,  XIII,  1893,  pp.  I  ff.;  and  on  2  Kings  19,  21  ff.,  Silber- 
stein, ibid. 

The  earlier  literature  dealing  with  Ecclesiastes  will  be  found 
in  Rosenmiiller's  Scholia  in  V.  T.,  IX,  1830,  and  inZockler,  O.: 
Das  Hohelied  und  der  Prediger,  1868.  Besides  the  commen- 
taries by  Barton,  Cox,  Delitzsch,  Ewald,  Ginsburg,  Gratz, 
Hitzig,  Nowack,  Plumptre,  Renan,  Siegfried,  Tyler,  Volck, 
Wildeboer,  Wright,  and  Zockler,  consult  Bickell,  G.:  Der 
Prediger  iiber  den  Wert  des  Daseins,  1884;  Cheyne,  T.  K. :  Job 
and  Solomo7i,  1887,  Jewish  Religious  Life,  1898;  Davidson, 
A.  B.:  Article  "Ecclesiastes,"  in  Enc.  Bib.;  Davison,  W.  T.: 
Wisdom  Lit.  in  the  Old  Testament,  1893;  Engelhardt,  Ed.:  In 
Studien  u.  Kritiken,  1875,  pp.  287  ff.;  Haupt,  P.:  "The 
Book  of  Ecclesiastes,"  in  Oriental  Studies,  1894,  pp.  242-278; 
Kleinert,  P.:  In  Stud,  und  Kritiken,  1883,  pp.  761  ff.;  Leim- 
dorfer,A.:  Das heilige Schriftwerk Kohelet,  1892;  Palm, A.:  Die 
Qohelet  Literatur,  1886;  Peake,  A.  S.:  Article  "Ecclesiastes," 
in  Hastings's  Bible  Dictionary,  1892;  Taylor,  C:  The  Dirge 
of  Koheleth  in  Ecclesiastes  12,  1874;  Winckler,  H. :  Altorien- 
talische  Forschungen,  Zweite  Reihe,  II,  1898,  pp.  143-159. 


409 


INDEX   OF  PASSAGES 


Gen.  4  : 

9: 
II  : 
18: 
19: 

25  : 
25  : 
27  : 
27  : 

31  : 
36: 
36: 
36: 

49  : 
Ex.  15  : 

15  : 
Lev.  10 
Num.  6 
10 
21 
21 
21 

Deut.  3 

Josh.  6 
10 


23,  24 
25-27 
3,  4,  6, 
20,  21 

24,  25 
23  • 
27  • 
27-29 

39,40 
27  • 
4  • 
II,  IS 
35  • 
2-27 
1-18 
21     . 

=  3  • 
:  24-26 

=  35,36 
:  14,  15 
:  17, 18 
:  27-30 
24       . 

2  :  1-43 
:  1-29 
:  26    . 
:  12b, 13 


PAGE 
.     48,  290-292 

49,  215,  293-295 

50,  295-298 
299,  300 
299,  300 

.   301 

•     51 
302,  303 

2>^Z,  304 
.  .  6 
.  96 
.  96 
.   96 

51,  304-314 
59,  314-317 
59,317,318 

•  318,319 
.  319-321 
.  321,322 
3,323,324 
3,324,325 
4,  325-327 
43,  51,  59,  327-336 
336-343 
59,  60,  344-351 
351,352 
352-354 


411 


Index  oj  Passages 


PAGE 

Josh.  lo  :  13 3 

Jud.  4 40 

5:2-31         40,51,59,354-362 

14  :  4 14 

21  :  21-23 241 

1  Sam.  2  :  i-io 362-364 

2  Sam.  I  :  18-27 3.10.27,52,364-367 

I  :  20 14 

3  :  33,  34 •  367,  3^8 

19:35 6 

22 282 

23  :  1-7         369,  370 

1  King's  i:3ff 225 

4  :  30 12 

4  :  32 6 

5  :  12 232 

8  :  53 3,  5 

8  :  12,  13 371-375 

11:5.7         '      •      •     375 

II  :  28 374 

2  King's  II  :  16         373 

18  :  4 374 

19  :  21-28 376-378 

19  :  32-34 379,  380 

23  :  II 373 

1  Chron.  16  :  8-36 282 

2  Chron.  ss 7 

35  :  25 4 

Neh.  ID  :  34         241 

13  :  30 241 

Ps.  8 39 

18 282 

23 39 

45 1° 

69  :  12 .6 

73 39 

78  :  63 5 

412 


Index  oj  Passages 


Ps.  96 

105   . 

106    . 

Job  I, 

2     . 

I, 

2,42  : 

7-1: 

3 

3- 

31 

4- 

14 

15 

-21 

22 

-31 

29-31 

32 

-37 

38 

-41 

40 

^3-5 

40 

:  9-14       . 

40 

:  15-41  :  i 

4-2 

:  2,3,5,6 

42 

:  7-17       . 

Prov.  30  :  I    . 

31 

:  I        .      . 

Cant.  I 

, 1-5    •      • 

I, 

7,8       .      . 

I  : 

9-2:5     . 

2  : 

8-13 

2  : 

14-17 

3: 

1-4     .      . 

3  : 

6-11 

4  : 

1-7     .      . 

4: 

8-5:1      . 

5  : 

2-16 

6  : 

1-3     •      • 

6: 

8-10 

6: 

11-7  :  9 

7  : 

10-13 

8  : 

I,  2     . 

8  : 

3-7     •      • 

8: 

8-10 

. 

26 


8c^8 


PAGE 
.  286 
.  282 
.        282 

8c^83 
107-112 
112-116 

83-89 
116-142 
143-163 
163-187 

•  54 
187-193 
194-212 

•  94 

•  94 
.   94 

94 
„.  no 
12 
12 
239-241 
241,  242 
242-245 
246-248 
248-250 
25(^252 
252-254 
254-256 
256-258 
258-262 
262,  263 
263-265 
265-269 
269, 270 
271 
272-274 
274-276 


413 


Index  oj  Passages 


PAGE 


Cant.  8  :  II,  12 276,  277 

8  :  13,  14 277 

Eccles.  2:8 6 

II  '  7-12:7 46,380-383 

Isa.  5:1         5 

16  :  10 6 

23  :  15  ff 5, 13 

24  :  9 6 

40 112 

^      66  :  I 375 

Jer.  16  :  9 5 

36  :  23 5 

36:32 5 

38  :  22 6 

49  :  7 12 

Ezek.  8  :  14 374 

8  :  16 373 

14  :  12-23 98 

26  :  13 13 

28  :  12-15 13 

Dan.  3  :  26-45 7 

3  :  52-90       7 

Amos  5  :  23 5,  6 

^'3         5 

Obad.  8 12 

Zech.  3  :  I,  2 98,  no 

Eccles.  44-50 77 

51  :  12 6 

I  Mace.  I  :  25-28 6 

1  :  36-40 ■ 6 

2  :  8-12         6 

3:3-9 6 

3  :  45 7 

14  :  6-15 7 

Judith  16  :  2-18 7 

Baruch  3  :  9-4  14 7 

4:5-8.... 7 

414 


Index  of  Passages 


Baruch  4  :  9-16 

•     4  :  17-S  :  9 
4  Ezra  4  :  7-8 

4  :  23-24 

5  :  4,  5  • 
5  :  36,  37 
6:i-S  . 
7  :  23,  24 
7  :  33-36 

7  :  37,38 

8  :  20-30 
8  :  39-42 

8  :  52-54 

10  :  21-24 

11  :  4c>-45 
Ascension  of  Moses  10  :  i-io 
Testament  of  Simeon  2  :  6 
Apocalypse  of  Baruch  10  :  6-1 

48  :  1-2 1 

83  :  10-21 
Psalter  of  Solomon 
Sibylline  Oracles  III,  IV,  V,  XII 
Luke  I  :  46-55 

1  :  68-79 

2  :  29-32 
John  4  :  21     . 
I  Cor.  15  .      . 
James  5  :  11 
Mishna,  Jadaim  3  : 
Mishna,  Eduyoth  5 
Tosephta,  Sanhedrin  12 
Bab.  Talmud,  Sanhedrin  loia 
Bab.  Talmud,  Taanith  31a 


PAGE 

7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
7 
8 

7 
7 
7 
375 
104 
61 
216 
216 
218 
218 
241 


415 


